FMA Faithless
by priestessgrrrl
Summary: FMA/Loveless crossover, which begins at the Gate at the end of the 1st FMA anime, except Roy and Ed end up in the Loveless verse. Roy/Ed, Ritsuka/Soubi, Roy/Soubi, Ed/Ritsuka. Ch 1-3 are by PG and Sockren; all future chapters are by PG.
1. Chapter 1

"Stop!" Roy screamed as he watched Edward sketch the array on the ballroom floor. He felt soaked in his own blood, streams of it dripping from bleeding eyelids. The fight with the Fuhrer had been tiring and every muscle in his body ached. He wanted to stop and sleep but he recognized the array that Edward had scratched on the floor. He knew every swirl and loop that that piece of chalk had etched out.

Until that array had been wiped off the floor, Roy couldn't stop. He jumped from one balcony level to the next and swung down, racing towards the alchemist. "STOP, EDWARD!"

Edward glanced behind him, flipping his braid over his shoulder as he did so. The boy was naked to his waist; arrays were scribbled on his arms and torso. The drawings were blue and glowed with an eerie light. Roy figured, as he jumped over a chair, that Ed had finally become desperate enough not to care about equivalent trade. There was a crazy look in his eyes.

Ed sat on array and checked the drawings on his arms and chest. Alphonse was nowhere to be seen but a girl Roy didn't recognize sat next to Ed, shivering and watching in an uncomprehending way. Why wasn't she trying to stop him? He was screaming at Ed to stop; why didn't the girl help?

"Scratch out the array!" he yelled. The girl made no attempt to move, staring at him as if she wasn't sure he was really there and Roy cursed. "Stop!" he yelled again, breaking into a run. He had to ruin the array. It would be crucial to change it; he had to alter it somehow!

Edward called out to Roy then, refusing to meet the Colonel's eyes as he finished the last line and tossed the chalk away. "My brother sacrificed himself for me," Ed said simply. "I promised to bring him back from there." The boy paused and placed both hands on the array. "I keep my promises."

There was a clap and then a bang and the array lit up blue. Roy could hear the roar of transmutation echoing in his ears. He made up his mind: skidding, he slid on his knees and threw himself into the array. Edward jerked; Roy could feel the array alter as he forced himself into it. What was he doing?

He should have dragged Edward out! No, there hadn't been enough time. Edward squirmed as Roy wrapped his arms around him. The array burned and Roy screamed. There wasn't a sound from Edward as the light increased, painfully burning until there was nothing.

_Mon_ something whispered in the darkness. "Gate."

There it was. Hideous bodies clinging to some mockery of an entrance. The doors swung open and Roy squinted against the yellow light. Edward: he'd entered the array looking for Edward! Roy turned as he heard the gate open and saw Ed behind him, glaring at him with a look that could only be hatred.

"You've ruined it," Ed accused. "You've taken me from him forever!"

Ed had a frightening look on his face and Roy took a step backward. The sword on the alchemist's arm was transmuted in a second and Roy jumped back to avoid being gutted.

"Why did you do that?!" Edward screamed. "Why did you ruin the array!"

"I was trying to save you!" Roy defended, jumping back from the blade again. He couldn't see; his depth perception was off. It was becoming harder and harder to avoid Ed's strikes.

Stopping for a moment, Edward laughed hysterically. "Saved me?" he said, crowing. "You've damned us both."

Ed pointed at a point that was behind Roy and Roy turned. The gate had finished opening. It peered at him, hundreds of eyes staring right into his soul. Tiny hands were stretching outward and he watched as they wrapped around him. They wormed their way under his clothes. One climbed into his eye, prying open damaged lids and worming its bloody way under his skin. He screamed.

The gate showed him things that he hadn't wanted to see.

Somewhere in the middle of it, he felt a hand wrap against his. His screams quieted as he felt the warmth from it. One eye cracked open and, even though he could see nothing but thousands of damned souls, he knew that Ed had reached for his hand.

"Close your eyes," Ed said.

Roy didn't want to tell him that it was impossible. Even with his eyes closed, he could still see these things. He could hear them and Roy felt himself shake with fear. This wasn't something a human should ever see. The will to survive made him terrified.

"Close your eyes," Ed repeated.

Roy did so. Behind them, he could hear the gate close and the painful laughter that echoed in his ears finally brought blackness.

Hitting the ground hard, Roy's body made a thud that was strong enough to jerk him awake. He opened his eyes and focused quickly. The transmutation circle was fading, the last glimmers of light disappearing. Ed was sitting on the ground next to him, pawing at something that had gotten attached to his head. What was-?

"I declare this to be a battle of spells," a strange voice said and Roy looked up. Standing next to a picnic table and a lamppost were two figures. The taller one hugged a small boy close to his chest, nearly shoving the tiny figure into his coat. The man looked furious and Roy could see a tiny… array? etched on his skin. It activated as he spoke and Roy put his hand forward.

"Do you accept?" the man demanded.

"Yes," Ed said in a strange voice. Roy turned around.

"What are you doing?" he demanded of Ed. The figures in front of them had made no move forward to initiate the kind of attack that Roy usually participated in. The taller man's blond hair was blowing slightly and the little boy curled a finger into it, flicking cat-like ears forward in a peaceful manner.

Wait, cat-like? Roy turned to Ed again and stared in shock. Those ears… Edward had them as well. Gold ears peeked out from Ed's hair and Roy could even see a tail flicking impatiently from beneath the boy's coat. What had happened after they'd fallen through the gate?

"Sentou system, on! Auto," declared the tall man over by the picnic table.

A circle of black light encased the field suddenly. Trees darkened and stopped moving, the sound of birds vanished, and the grass under Roy's feet turned to ink. Turning around quickly, Roy glanced at Edward. "What's going on?!" he asked. Ed didn't answer.

"Sentou system, on," Ed said quietly. He stood and Roy turned to face him. Suddenly, he felt light, almost as if something else had freed mind from body. Information that he could remember being shown by the Gate flooded his system and, suddenly, he knew what he needed to know. He turned to Ed and placed his palm against the other alchemist's, feeling words suddenly flare up on his skin.

_Faithless_, said that strange voice from the gate. _That is the name given by destiny; it is for this world and this world alone_.

"Faithless, so strong that even the pious fall," Edward said and Roy heard his own voice chanting the phrase along with the other alchemist. There were vibrations in the air and an array activated above his head. Strings wrapped around the battlefield and Roy eyed his competition.

* * *

Soubi was seriously concerned. He'd never seen anything quite like this pair before. They had appeared out of nowhere as he and Ritsuka had been walking in the park, and he'd had very little warning, except for a feeling of immense power approaching rapidly from somewhere else. They were strangely dressed; the older man was wearing what appeared to be an old fashioned military uniform, and he younger boy's clothes also looked very outdated and rather foreign. The blond boy seemed to be having trouble with his ears and his tail, which was sticking awkwardly out of his old-fashioned trousers.

_What has Nagisa-sensei cooked up now? _he thought to himself, although he had a nagging feeling that these two had absolutely nothing to do with Nagisa-sensei, Seven Moons, or anything else that he was familiar with.

He grasped Ritsuka protectively as he waited to see what this eccentric pair would do. Ritsuka leaned back against him trustingly; Soubi didn't think he was aware of their potential danger. He was determined to shield him from it in any way possible.

Disturbingly, the dark haired older man began to laugh. It was a cruel laugh, laced with irony and cynicism, and it echoed through the battleground like a firecracker. He stopped suddenly and one word escaped his lips: "_Flame_."

The soldier snapped his gloved fingers and flames shot forth in an immense arc with astounding speed. Soubi took a step back and braced himself: "_Flames deflected! No damage taken! Flames become a firestorm that sweeps away the enemy!_"

Only… it hadn't worked. Soubi sank to his knees and felt Ritsuka's gasp as chains wrapped around them and they were both Restricted.

_What went wrong_? In order to turn a spell around, you had to absorb the entirety of the attack, almost like swallowing it, and then spit it back out in a new form directly at your enemy. Soubi had mastered this technique time and time again, and generally it threw his enemies off guard. This time, however, the intensity of the attack was so strong that he had found it impossible to take in, and when he'd tried to throw it back… Now the Sacrifice had started laughing. Hysterically.

"What, is that the best you can do? Hate to tell you, but as long as I've still got both arms and legs,_you can bring it on!!_" the blond boy shouted.

_These two are really starting to piss me off_… Soubi decided it was time to change tactics. Flames, hmm? Well, why don't we see what happens when fire gets wet?

Before the dark haired Fighter could snap his fingers again, Soubi attacked:

"_Come thunder, come lightning, come rain to soak you to the skin!"_

Clouds gathered above the battleground; thunder and lightning crashed; rain came in torrents. The enemy pair were soaked in seconds. Soubi took advantage of their momentary confusion; he unfolded his arms and cupped Ritsuka's face in his hands. "_I love you, Ritsuka_." His Sacrifice's lips parted gently in anticipation and Soubi leaned in to kiss him, strong and deep. Their bonds snapped immediately as the energy between them surged like electricity.

A sudden noise made them look up, and the sight that met their eyes was a odd one indeed. Their erstwhile enemies were currently rolling around in the mud, wrestling each other to the ground. What on Earth…?

"Fullmetal, I'm going to kill you when this is over, do you understand me!"

"Oh, like this is my fault? Who is it that's totally _useless_ when it rains, hmmm? Tell me that, you egomaniacal pain in the ass!"

"Say that again and you are no longer a State Alchemist!"

"Like I care about being your fucking lapdog anymore!"

Soubi and Ritsuka just stared. Well, one thing was for sure, they certainly hadn't been sent by Seven Moons…


	2. Chapter 2

Roy took a punch to his solar plexus and whirled in pain. It hadn't been the automail hand, fortunately, but Ed still packed a decent wallop. Roy cursed and stood wobbly, brandishing a glove. He was still drenched and snapped a few times uselessly, wiping rain out of his face as he tried to control himself. Rain landed in his face and soaked the ground beneath him. It made it difficult to find purchase and he slipped before forcing himself into a steady, upright position.

"Why do I have to attack, anyway? It's not like you're completely useless!" Roy yelled, grabbing Ed and thrusting the boy further into the mud. His golden ears were soaked and one flicked, trying to expel water.

"It's part of the rules here!" Ed yelled, his eyes still burning. "The Gate makes all the fucking rules, don't look at me. It's not my fault you're a one-trick pony."

Glaring, Roy lifted his hand to snap and teach this small fry a lesson. Concentrating, Roy heated the air around him, drying the gloves slightly. He snapped again but the gloves were quickly dampened by the continuing downpour. Goddammit, he needed more heat.

"Put your hand down, you shit Colonel," Ed said offhandedly, staring at Roy from the muddy ground.

Roy found himself, almost against his will, putting the gloved hand down. He glanced at the hand and found that he'd lost any and all will to raise it. What in the world was going on? Edward looked at him strangely. One of the kitten-ears on his head twitched and the tail squirmed in the mud. It was an odd look, but then, Roy had seen chimeras before.

"Why'd you stop?" Ed asked softly, looking confused.

"I don't know," Roy responded. He felt as though he'd been kicked and smiled weakly. Ed was surprised and almost disappointed that he'd stopped, but then, he had told him to stop. Why did this contradiction make him feel like a beaten dog? Mustang's hand still burned beneath his glove. He peeled off the cloth and stared at the words written across his skin. Scar tissue declared 'FAITHLESS' in an angry white that flared blue for a moment and then died down.

Roy stood, soaked, feeling the rain washing the mud from his uniform. "What's going on?" he asked forcefully of the figures standing across from him. "I demand to know what's going on. Who are you?"

"Soubi," the taller man said. "My name is Agatsuma Soubi." The glasses the man wore hadn't been touched by the rain. A small field seemed to protect him and his charge from it. Roy watched as the rain was deflected by the shield and analyzed the people in it. Soubi, as he called himself, was tall. He had no ears like Ed and the boy. The boy was small and cowered, eyes closed, around the tall fighter.

Actually, Roy noted, he himself didn't grow any cat-ears either. Why Edward and not him? Did it have something to do with their age?

"What's going on here?" the Colonel repeated, his hands at his side. One glove slipped from his fingers and fell into the mud. His hair clung to his head and he shivered slightly. Bending, he grabbed the glove and righted himself, almost slipping again in the process.

"Aren't you going to protect your Sacrifice?" Soubi asked curiously. The man lifted a finger and pointed in the direction of Ed, beyond Roy's shoulder.

"What?" Roy questioned.

"Look," Soubi said, still pointing. Roy turned. Chains had snaked their way across Edward's neck and hands. The boy fought them for a moment, tried to transmute them, and tested his automail against them. The chains wouldn't be destroyed. Roy grabbed one and yanked at it. They seemed to come from all directions, vanishing a few feet from the source. Roy tugged again and jerked back suddenly. Oh, they hurt; the things hurt. How could Ed stand that?

Gasping, Ed turned. There was a pained look on his face as he dragged air forcibly into his lungs. The knowledge the Gate had given him was limited but, somehow, this felt right, to take this pain and watch Roy shrink away from it as if he wasn't entitled to share it. "What's going on?" Ed asked.

"I don't know," Roy responded. He sat up, looking in the direction of Soubi. "What the hell is going on? You know, you should pick on someone more your size."

Soubi looked amused as Ed's struggles renewed after the comment. Ed grit his teeth and screamed, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SUPER HYPER CHIBI MIDGET NOT WORTH FIGHTING!"

Pushing his glasses up his nose, Soubi laughed at Roy, tilting his head slightly. A smile played on his face as he said quietly, "I thought I was fighting someone my own size." Then, something occurred to the blond man and he laughed. "You're doing all of this on instinct! You've never fought before."

"Undo whatever you did," Roy repeated, ignoring the fighter's statement. "Or I will fight you seriously." He pulled a gun from the holster at his back and cocked it, aiming it in Soubi's direction. "If I can't burn you, I'll kill you to protect him."

"Fire it," Soubi challenged. "The chains wrapped around your Sacrifice are called Restriction. They cause pain and inhibit movement to indicate that you have taken damage in the fight." Roy's fingers shook. Behind him, Ed made a pained noise as the rain continued to fall. Thunder struck overhead and each strike lit up the chains of the Restriction. Ed didn't scream but Roy could hear him jerk in the mud. "Lower your weapon and forfeit the fight," Soubi continued, "and the Restrictions will be removed. Then, I will explain what you want to know."

"Tell me how to end the fight," Roy demanded.

Ed looked up. "I know how," he said, struggling to breathe. He paused, gathering strength and then mumbled, "I forfeit this battle of spells as the Sacrifice." Roy felt the symbol on his hand heat again. It wasn't painful this time and suddenly the blackness around him drained away, pooling into nothingness. They were in the park again and the birds sang. The rain stopped. The chains vanished. Ed's neck, again, was clean.

Roy slid the gun back into its hiding place and turned to look at Ed. Fullmetal took a deep breath and stood wobbly. "I'm going to fall," he said and Roy found himself moving immediately to catch him, almost at the unspoken command. He picked Ed up and watched as the boy's eyes closed.

"Come on," Soubi said, looking at Edward curiously. "I have somewhere for you to take him."

* * *

Roy stepped out of the shower, a towel loose around his waist and decided that a shower had never felt so good. His skin felt clean and free of rain and mud. It was a good feeling. He closed the door quietly behind him and shook his head slightly to free it of rain. Then, he started down the hallway, his feet sticking slightly to the wood floor. He left footprints. 

"I took the liberty of washing your… outfit," came Soubi's voice from the living room. "I'm sure you will be alright here, until we find a more suitable place for you to be. After college, I found that a large place was more suited the strays that Ritsuka seems to pick up."

"Ritsuka," Roy said, settling on one of the leather couches across from Soubi. "Is that the kid's name?"

"Yes," Soubi said. "Aoyagi Ristuka." The fighter reached for the cup of coffee in front of him and lifted it to his lips, taking a sip. He set it back down onto the coffee table and then reclined against a pillow. "Edward told me where you both came from. He told me a very interesting story. He called you Roy… Colonel Roy Mustang. I find it amusing that you used to command him."

"I can see that one of us is caught up," Roy said tersely. He finished drying his hair and leaned back, the towel covering where it needed to cover. It felt good to let the warm summer air dry the water on his skin. "Enlighten me," Roy added after a moment. Mustang could hear Ed snoring in the other room. That was comforting. Still, what was so odd about he being Ed's superior officer? He was older and more experienced. This world had odd rules.

"In this world, people are tied together with names," Soubi said slowly, pushing blonde hair over his shoulders. "They're tied together. You're Faithless."

Roy eyed the mark on his hand. It said 'Faithless.' He didn't feel faithless. Ed, he knew for a fact, was. Still, he supposed that losing faith in the goodness of mankind could count as a loss of faith. Scratching the mark idly, Roy frowned. "Ed is the same."

"Yes," Soubi said. "You're tied to Edward."

"Then, you're tied to Ritsuka? He's Beloved as well?" Roy asked. He could remember when, during the battle, Soubi's neck had lit up with the words. Leaning forward suddenly, Roy started to get himself some coffee but was interrupted by Soubi's barely uttered 'No.' One slender, black eyebrow lifted.

"It's not tonight's story," Soubi said firmly with a pleasant smile. "Another time." He offered Roy sugar, pushing the small glass cases across the table. "You've been chosen as the 'Sentouki.' It means that you're the Fighter. Ed has been chosen to be the 'Sacrifice.' Essentially, you must fight for him and protect him during a battle of spells. This will be hard, Ed believes, for you to accept because of the nature of a Sentouki."

The man took another sip. Roy couldn't quite see Soubi perfectly in the darkness but he tensed slightly, waiting for the news to fall.

"Do you remember when Ed said you were to drop your hands and suddenly your will to lift them drained from you?" Soubi asked. He waited for Roy's nod, barely perceptible in the darkness, and then continued. "It will always be like that now. You will have your will, but he can alter it. All of the commands that leave his mouth, you will feel compelled to obey. If he says you won't fight, you won't want to lift your hands. If he says he never wants to see you again, you will hide around the corners, praying that he doesn't see you but needing him to be near just the same. You will start to crave his presence, beg for his affection and desire his orders."

Soubi paused, for effect, and then continued. "That is just how the world is here. You fight to protect him and obey him. He takes your pain and gives you meaning."

Roy laughed in the darkness. "You can't be serious."

"Test it," Soubi responded. "I'm not saying an order is faultless. You'll just find it very… uncomfortable to disobey your namesake."

Roy figured it was time for a change in subject. "Explain the ears," he barked. It felt military and that calmed him. The idea that he would obey Edward unconditionally like some kind of guard dog was obscene. Edward was his dog, not the other way around. Mustang took a sip of the coffee.

"Virgins have cat ears and a tail here," Soubi said.

Roy touched his head, running fingers through short strands of black hair, and smirked wickedly. "Now, that explains a lot."

Soubi quietly observed the man sitting across from him on the couch. Now that he was out of that outlandish uniform, he could see that he was actually quite good looking. Droplets of water clung to his pale skin as he lounged there, one arm up on the back of the sofa, the other lifting the cup of tea to his lips, clearly very comfortable with himself… either that, or he was trying very hard to create that impression. He exuded a kind of raw, intense energy that was palpable, almost visible at times. It was as if he were constantly on a slow boil; calm on the surface, but with flames licking just under the skin, ready to leap out a moment's notice.

_He certainly flared up when I mentioned allegiance to his Sacrifice_, Soubi thought. No doubt about it, they were one of the most unusual pairs that he and Ritsuka had met so far.

There was something else Soubi was curious about, however, and that was the smug look on Roy's face after he had explained about the cat ears and tail. A smirk, he thought, could mean a lot of things. A bit more information from the Colonel might prove useful. He leaned over to pick up his pack of cigarettes from the coffee table. Grabbing his small plastic lighter, he fumbled it between his long fingers thoughtfully. Damned thing never did work properly. _Flick. Flick. Flick._

In two strides, Roy was over the table and directly in front of him. Slipping on one white glove, he thrust his hand in front of Soubi's face, bending down so that they were eye to eye. Soubi blinked, once._Snap._ A small flame wavered above Roy's thumb and index finger. It was reflected in his dark eyes. Soubi lit his cigarette. _Snap_. The flame went out. Roy stood up. He was wearing the very same smirk on his face.

"Thank you," Soubi murmured over his cigarette, taking a slow drag. _Hmmm. Seems we play for the same team, after all_.

"My pleasure," Roy answered, running his gloved hand through his still-wet hair and looking away, as if suddenly embarrassed.

Soubi leaned back on the couch. Exhaling, he crossed his legs and gazed up at his flustered new acquaintance. He tugged at his hair, which he had tied up earlier, and shook it out, letting it fall lightly over his shoulders. Sensing that Roy was taking in all of his movements out of the corner of his eye, he slowly smiled. _This could be interesting…_

A cry from the back room shattered the mood. "_Al...! Alphonse! No… NOOOOOOO!_"

"Ed!" Roy snapped to attention and flew into the back room, Soubi on his heels. He had to smile when they opened the door, despite the clearly worried look on Mustang's face. Ritsuka and Edward had fallen asleep side by side, and Ed, in the middle of his nightmares, was unknowingly clinging to the dark haired boy. His face was pressed closely to the other boy's back; he gripped Ritsuka's shirt with white knuckled and metal fists. Ritsuka was completely oblivious to the entire affair; he lay curled up in the other direction, breathing gently, the twitching of his ears implying unrelated dreams.

"_Don't… Don't hurt him! I wont let you take him, I wont, I… Al!_ AL!!"

Roy immediately got down on the bed next to Ed and started shaking him. "Ed! Edward! Damn it, Fullmetal, I'm talking to you! Wake up; do you hear me?"

Ed's cries only became louder, and he started kicking, which woke Ritsuka up in a hurry. Soubi hurried over to Ritsuka's side of the bed and gathered him up in his arms, pulling him out of harm's way as he untangled him from the thrashing blond boy. Meanwhile Roy had climbed on top of Ed and was yelling in his face. Soubi couldn't imagine this was doing much besides frightening poor Ritsuka even further, who was now clinging to Soubi and trembling. He was about to carry Ritsuka out of the room, when Ed suddenly awoke.

"Colonel… Mustang." He stared up at Roy, relief spreading across his face like cool water after a drought. "Al…! Al… Colonel, they've got Al, we've got to do something, we've got to…" He was still hyperventilating; his eyes were huge golden saucers. Roy was smoothing the hair out of Ed's face, willing him to calm down.

"Edward, it's okay, it's all right, it was just a nightmare. You were dreaming. Get a hold of yourself. It's going to be okay." Ed was starting to shake uncontrollably; Roy pulled him into his arms and held him very tightly. The blond boy took a couple of deep breaths and closed his eyes. When he pulled away and reopened them, they were burning with determination.

"_Colonel_. We need to help Al. This is serious. Not a dream. A message. _Help him. That's an order_."

Roy looked as if he were about to argue, but then thought better of it and nodded his head. _Ah, the burden of being the Sentouki is finally starting to sink in_, Soubi thought, watching them. _Better to leave them to it_. He picked up Ritsuka and headed for the door. Behind him, Edward had clearly become fully awake.

"_Colonel!_ What the hell are you doing in bed with me? And where the hell are your clothes?? And what the fuck with the one glove? You trying to be some kind of demented pop star or something??"

* * *

Roy laughed slightly under his breath and leaned closer, breathing in deeply and pressing his face against Edward's neck. Somehow, being closer to the other alchemist made him feel better. There had been an ache inside of him that was eased and he brushed his hand against Ed. Ed struggled against him and pushed him away. 

How would he ever make his Sacrifice happy and follow that order?

"You idiot," Ed said angrily, shoving Roy off the bed. "You idiot. Get out. I don't want to see you. _I order you to _get out."

Ed was slinging orders with an eagerness that made Roy flinch. He found himself standing outside the bedroom door a moment later, staring mournfully at the wood. Inside, he could hear Ed sobbing, calling out his brother's name, and the sound of things being thrown. The sobs were dry and tearless. Roy found the sound familiar.

"He ordered you out then?" Soubi asked and Roy jerked, turning to find the Fighter lounging against a nearby wall. There was a cigarette in the man's fingers and he brought it to his lips, inhaling. "Then you might as well go and take care of the other order. You can't go in."

"This is ridiculous," Roy said firmly. "He asks the impossible." He placed his single gloved hand on the door and tried to turn it. It felt wrong though, so wrong that he almost felt sick. The door knob wouldn't turn. He couldn't turn it. He didn't want to turn it, did he? Edward didn't want him in there. Edward wanted him out here. So why did he want to be in there if Edward didn't want him?

The feeling of abandonment was heady and he felt pain in his chest. The idea he'd come up with, that he couldn't be close to his Sacrifice, hurt with a cutting pain. Roy felt warm arms wrap around him and suddenly, Soubi was pulling him from the door. The fur of the man's coat felt smooth against Roy's bare skin and the Colonel shook slightly, mumbling something under his breath.

How had he become this dependent?

"Come on," Soubi whispered and Roy could smell tobacco on the man's breath. From around the corner, he could see Ritsuka watching him with a curious expression. The boy's ears drooped slightly and Roy wondered what he was thinking. Then Ritsuka met his eyes and scurried off into the kitchen.

Soubi ignored his Sacrifice's disappearance, pulling Roy into his guest bedroom. He reached into a drawer and pulled out some clothes, beginning to dress the other man. Roy felt numb all over and unable to move. Ed had ordered him to find Al. He couldn't do that. He didn't know anything about human transmutation. It wasn't in his power. In addition, Ed didn't want him nearby. Ed had ordered him away. It made him feel frozen.

"Lift your arms," Soubi said and Roy was jerked out of his reverie to find that he was suddenly wearing pants. The other Sentouki had dressed him carefully and the touches were methodical and passionless this time. Roy lifted his arms and Soubi slipped a shirt over his head, finishing and then pushing Roy down into a chair. Soubi himself sat on the edge of the bed.

"Cigarette?" the Sentouki asked.

"No thank you," Roy responded.

Moving, Soubi pushed Roy over in the chair slightly and eased himself into Roy's lap. The man settled and Roy looked at him, waiting. He wasn't a stranger to these kind of advances. Soubi's hair fell against Roy's collarbone and Roy could feel it tickle slightly. He reached up and touched the side of Soubi's face.

"What are you doing?" Roy asked.

"Distracting you from the pain," Soubi responded. "Heartache is the only pain you'll ever feel again, after all."

Roy had been analyzed by Soubi earlier and took the opportunity now to eye the other man. Soubi felt lean in Roy's hands, hiding some kind of tensile strength that Roy couldn't quite understand. Every movement the man made felt darkened, driven by some need for pain or punishment. Roy could sense jealousy in the man's gaze, even though circular lenses mostly hid the stare. Soubi was coiled sexuality, frustration and a tense bundle of emotions that he only seemed to bother to hide around Ritsuka. It was hard for Roy to put a finger on Soubi and the moment he thought that he had, it went up in smoke.

The kiss came in the middle of reflection, Soubi's lips brushing gently against Roy's and Roy groaned, opening his mouth willingly. Soubi wasted no time, his tongue sliding inside and Roy grabbed the older Sentouki's shoulders hard.

Ed would kiss differently, Roy thought. Ed would kiss with passion and strength. He would take what he wanted and make no apologies.

Why was Roy thinking about Ed at a time like this? Here he had a gorgeous man curled on his lap like a kitten and he thought of an underage subordinate? It was wrong and Roy shivered. Soubi wrapped his fingers through Roy's hair and parted from the kiss enough to whisper, "You have no choice but to love him. So want me but don't love me."

Then, Soubi pulled away suddenly and the heat from the man's body faded sharply. "Sleep," Soubi said, standing. He moved to the door and rested a hand on it. "Ritsuka went to talk to your Sacrifice." The door closed and Roy sat in the chair in the darkness until he fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The door to the guest room burst open and Ed glared. Soubi had told him that Roy would have no choice but to listen as long as he framed his statements around the word 'order.' So why was the bastard barging in now? But, it wasn't Roy. The black-haired boy, Ritsuka, stood in the doorway, glaring at Ed with a fierceness that would rival a homunculus. Ed glared right back.

"You can't do that!" Ritsuka said firmly, slamming the door behind him. The black tail that emerged form the boy's jeans twitched back and forth, agitated. "It's despicable."

"Do what?" Ed demanded back. His ears flattened to his head. "That bastard Colonel has ordered me around since day one. I wanted _one thing_ from him and that was my brother. I hope he's as miserable as I am."

"He will be," Ritsuka shouted in response. "He can't do anything but follow your orders. You can't do that to your fighter. It's cruel. You're bonded stronger than Soubi and I. Your Sentouki can't say 'no' and he can't follow your order."

"I don't care," Ed said and he looked down. "My brother… my brother - "

"Your brother isn't here," Ritsuka said. "I hate that you take advantage of the people around you. You give him an impossible task and say that he can't be by your side. That's all he wants now. He's different here and you can't do that. It hurts him to not be able to be near you or see you. He'll follow you everywhere now; he'll hide so that you can't see him, but he'll follow you and it will hurt him. Go take the order back!"

Ed was completely out of his depth. He looked over at Ritsuka and had to admit that he had no idea what this boy was about: none at all. One minute he was hiding behind his Sentouki like a frightened child, and the next minute he was telling him, Ed, what to do? That he needed to be considerate of Mustang's feelings? _Mustang_, of all people? The same Roy Mustang who felt no qualms about ordering him around like a dog? The same Roy Mustang who was responsible for him losing his brother yet again? _Fuck you, no way. _

"Look. I don't think you understand what's going on, here. Mustang and I aren't kissy-face, star-crossed lovers like you and your weirdo friend, kay? We're just two fucking random alchemists who got sucked into this world by accident. I got the information from the Gate about how the system works. One person is the Fighter, the other the Sacrifice, and Mustang has to do what I say for a change. So? I want him to fucking find Al. It's his fault Al isn't with me now. We need to find him and help him, before it's too late. It's… he's my little brother, he…" Ed faltered. He had lost his momentum all of a sudden. _Where was Al? _

"_Soubi and I aren't lovers!_" Ritsuka's face was red. "It's _you_ who doesn't understand. You don't understand anything. It's not about 'the system' like it's something you can read in a book! You are bound together now! He needs you. You're _hurting him_."

"What if I don't care?" Ed spat back.

"You're _lying_."

"I'm _not_. Fuck him. I'm sick to death of him!"

"You're just angry because he witnessed you in your vulnerability."

Ed covered his face with his hands in a gesture of frustration. _What the fuck with this kid? Next thing you know, he'll be quoting random German philosophers at me_.

"Alright, alright… What do you suggest I do, then? Besides kiss and make up with Roy, I mean. …about Al, and everything."

"You aren't going to be able to help your brother unless you and your Sentouki find a way to get along amicably. No more wrestling and screaming at each other. You must give him orders, and they must be things that he can reasonably be expected to carry out."

_Hell of a lot more than Mustang ever fucking did for me_, Ed thought, but he kept his mouth shut, for once.

"Like I was saying, he has a physical need to be near you, to see you, to hear you and to touch you. By denying him and pushing him away, you are only weakening your bond, your fighting abilities, and ultimately, yourself," Ritsuka explained.

"Sounds like you speak from experience. Let me guess. Everything wasn't always this charming in kissy-face land?" Ed made a face.

Ritsuka sighed. "Look, do you want us to help you or not?"

"I don't know what the hell I want. I'm still exhausted, even though I slept for hours. I don't want to be here. I don't want to deal with this. Roy. Your world. Any of it."

"Go to him. Just go to him. It will be better if you do. Trust me."

It was Ed's turn to sigh. He followed Ritsuka out of the room, down the hall to where Roy was sleeping. The door was ajar. He could see him in there, spread eagled on the chair, completely wiped out. _Damn him. Why do I suddenly feel the need to be closer to him, even though I hate him? _

Ed closed the door, and he and Roy were alone in the darkness. He carefully climbed into Roy's lap, which, unbeknownst to him, had only recently been vacated. Laying his head on his Colonel-turned-Fighter's chest, he thought about what a strange world they had been transported into, and whether all these events were just random, or if they had some metaphysical significance that Ed couldn't begin to understand. _Aw, screw it, he thought, I'm starting to sound like that kid_. He closed his eyes. In his sleep, Roy smiled.

* * *

Roy woke to find that the pain in his chest was gone. He could hear words being mumbled against his ear and he stretched slightly. Surprisingly, he didn't feel achy after sleeping i that chair all night long. Something warm surrounded him and made everything seem alright. Wrapping his arms around the warm thing in his lap, Roy sighed and made a happy, lazy noise against a yellow cat-ear. Somewhere, outside the window maybe, birds were singing and the sun splashed across Roy's skin in a perfect way that made him want to fall back asleep.

That mumbling happened again and Roy finally cracked one eye open. "Don't make me order you awake," Ed sighed against Mustang's temple. The boy smirked as two dark eyes opened to slits.

"I didn't know where to start," Roy said after a moment, staring at the kid. He felt comfortable with Ed on top of him like this. It felt right and he tightened his grip on his Sacrifice. "I was going to try, but I couldn't." Roy wanted to explain how that sick need for Ed had enveloped him, left him standing still and useless. He didn't like it, but he _loved_ it. That made no sense.

"It's alright," Ed snorted. "I take it back. I don't order you to find Al anymore. I don't order you to leave. You can stay by me."

Roy couldn't have been anymore relaxed. He felt something warm sweep across his body and sighed into it. It felt good to just breathe. Having Ed near him, touching him and just being with him was all that he could remember ever wanting. The feeling of contentment nearly overpowered him and he squirmed in the chair.

Ed looked up at him then. One cat-ear twitched and Edward smiled. "You've never been very good, though, at working, have you?" Ed slid from his lap then and stretched, looking down at him. "You always seem to avoid it."

Shrugging, Roy nodded. He stroked Ed's face and ran his hands down to the boy's hips. One hand traced over Ed's lower back, touching the tail and stroking lower. Ed gave Roy an annoyed look and moved his hands. "Sure," Roy finally responded. "I'm not… as dedicated - "

"You're nowhere near as dedicated as me," Ed said. "I'm going to change that, I think."

Watching with an uncomprehending look on his features, Roy stayed on the chair. Ed hadn't said he needed to move and he felt perfectly fine sitting. The boy was manipulating the situation and that frustrated the Colonel. Ed twisted his gold hair out of its usual braid. It had come undone and tangled sometime overnight. Watching, Roy could see Ed redo the braid and then tie it firmly when he was finished.

"Colonel," Ed said after a moment. "You don't think you've done anything wrong, but you have. You've wronged me and Al and I hate you for it." The boy paused, a hand on his hip and continued. "I won't give you impossible orders, since they hurt you. I won't hurt you. I won't push you away.

"However, I will bring my brother from the Gate. I will find him and you're going to help me, whether you want to or not. Ritsuka says you're programmed to follow my orders, to crave them. I'll take that. I'll take whatever I can from you and if I have to use you, I will. If it makes you happy, fine. If it doesn't, tough." Ed twisted on his foot and stepped to the side slightly.

"There's a library here," Edward said, his face twisting into a fierce smile. The boy looked confident and whispered, _"I order you to read every spell-book there, from dawn to dusk. I order you to learn to fight for me. I order you to learn to use the Sentou System for me. _I don't want to see your face until you've carried out those orders, Colonel. And, remember, you don't rest until night falls."

Roy felt warmth around him suddenly and smiled fondly at Edward. The boy needed him and wanted Roy to be his Sentouki. Mustang had never liked following orders and a part of him rebelled fiercely against it, but another, deeper part told him that this was how things should be. He nodded numbly and felt the urge to follow the order wash over him.

"If we can make it to this world from the Gate," Ed said solemnly, "we can make it to the Gate from this world. I'm sorry. I know you won't like this. I know you'll learn to hate me for this, even if you can't express it because you have to love me, but I need him back and if I have to use you to get him back, I will."

Edward stepped further aside and the Colonel felt himself moving methodically to the door. This was a task that Roy had no usual desire to partake in, but here he was, opening the door to Soubi's study and reaching upward. A book was selected and Roy sat down and began to read.

It rained that night. Roy stepped out of the house the moment darkness fell. His fingers ached and his eyes hurt. He'd strained them with too much reading and his head hurt. The rain drenched him from head to toe in an instant and he started to run. He found the field where they'd come through the gate in a moment and slumped there, falling in the mud.

Roy pounded on the ground once and closed his eyes. They were still wounded from his earlier fighting, though the Gate travel had somehow healed the worst of his wounds. The darkness was soothing. Rain burned its way down his skin and Roy pounded the ground again.

"Open up," he screamed at the earth. "Open up!" Roy touched the array on his hand and put power into it. Something happened but he couldn't quite be sure what. He hit the ground again, kneeling with his face in the mud. Water dripped from the trees and the lamppost around him and he screamed at it.

"I don't want this!" he yelled.

Suddenly, it wasn't raining on him anymore and Roy started, lifting his head. It was still raining, he could hear it, but it wasn't raining on him. "An umbrella," Soubi said from above him and Roy felt a hand touch his shoulder. "I'm next to you."

Soubi knelt, crouching slightly and Roy felt a coat being wrapped around his shoulders. What good would that do? Soubi pulled at him and he shook the man off. "Leave me alone," Roy hissed, teeth chattering slightly.

There was an amused chuckle above him. "For a man with an affinity for fire, you have an odd taste, running away to pound on water." Soubi paused then. Roy could hear the man's lighter click as he lit up and suddenly, under the umbrella; the smell of smoke was heavy. Roy still didn't move. "You ignored Ritsuka when he came into the study," Soubi said. "Ritsuka talked to you for hours. He was worried about you. He tried to get you to eat."

Roy heard Soubi take another drag from the cigarette. "Edward has a lot of power over you," Soubi said after a moment. "He is passionate about his orders. It makes them stronger."

"Stop talking," Roy said.

"You said you didn't want this," Soubi continued, ignoring Roy's demand. Roy rubbed his temple. "Why?"

"I don't want to fight for him," Roy said. Soubi almost dropped his cigarette at that and Roy heard him resettle himself. "I don't agree with… He sacrifices too much of himself for one person. I don't… you can't sacrifice everything around you just for one person."

"Wouldn't you?" Soubi asked. "If someone you loved needed it?"

"There's a limit," Roy said firmly. "There's a difference between protecting the people you love and destroying yourself for someone. If you destroy yourself for someone, when you have their loyalty, you can't protect them. You have to be strong, you have to…" Roy stopped for a moment. "You have to protect those loyal to you. You can't sacrifice yourself. You have to know that people need you."

"Edward takes a different way," Soubi said. "He's young. He doesn't understand. You both want similar things, I think. Protecting people is important. There are many ways to do it. It's difficult, I think, to care for the people we love."

The statement humbled Roy and he paused. Hadn't he wanted the same thing with Hughes, a miracle resurrection? Ed, though, didn't understand when to stop. Ed didn't understand where to draw the line and grieve. Ed never gave up, even though there had been people, right there in that world, that Ed should have been able to live for. How far did passion go?

"I don't want to be his Sentouki," Roy said. "I can't handle him taking care of me. I-"

"-don't like obeying him," Soubi finished. Roy seemed surprised and stared at the ground for a moment. "Giving up control is hard. Submitting to the will of another, accepting that doing that can bring joy, these are hard things to understand and accept. It would be so much easier to help him on your own terms, wouldn't it?"

"Yes."

"You can learn to accept it," Soubi said, lifting Roy's chin. "I was born a Sentouki but there was a time before I knew what I was. It was hard to let go but, in the end, it rewarded me to be a witness."

"Slave," Roy said bitterly. "The word you're looking for is 'slave.'"

"Yes," Soubi replied, refusing to deny it. "When you served the military, what were you? You had power over some, but others had power over you. Power is always in play, somehow. Now, it's been taken from you, but you still have something. Edward needs you more than he admits and you'll always have that. Without you, he's powerless in this world. He'll take care of you. He has no choice but to love you and his love for you will even pass his obsession."

Roy laughed slightly. "I can't do this. I can't bringing his brother back for him."

"If he orders you, you must try, or you'll suffer," Soubi said and he reached for Roy again, helping the man up. Roy could feel his warm body next to him. "Keep your eyes closed. I'll lead you home. You'll need rest for tomorrow."

"I love him," Roy said suddenly, laughing hysterically.

"I know," Soubi said, holding the umbrella higher.


	4. Chapter 4

Edward rubbed his eyes and blinked. It had been a while since he'd spent the day reading, and he was tired. He and Ritsuka lay sprawled out side by side on the couch. Roy's notes from his day of enforced studying were spread on the coffee table in front of them. _Of course, Mustang's only means of taking notes would have to be in the mind-numbingly monotonous style of the military…_ He sighed as he picked up the piece of paper directly in front of him again and read:

Area of Interest: _Sentouki Combat Strategies III: TAC-AIR strikes_ (cont'd from p.17)  
Source: _Tactics for Naturally Talented or Aggressively Ambitious Fighters, _by J. Nakaguri  
Compiled By: Col R. Mustang

Summary: _A Fighter has the ability to call in tactical air (TAC-AIR) strikes in the form of spears, spikes, shards of ice, and/or other particulate against enemy movements and positions. This is particularly useful in the case of a counterinsurgency combat zone lacking static lines of defense. In the event of this attack not succeeding…_

Ed's eyes glazed over. _I don't know why I should have expected anything different… _He leaned back into the corner of the couch and yawned, closing his eyes. Feeling something press against him, he opened them again in surprise to find that Ritsuka had leaned back into his lap and was resting his head hesitantly against his shoulder.

Ed decided to allow it, lifting his arm and shifting slightly to make room. He was trying to sort out what it was he felt for this strange boy with whom he was suddenly partnered. Ritsuka had an almost girlish look about him, colored by a sort of rag-tag boyish enthusiasm, especially noticeable when he got angry, which Ed found endearing. There was something in his way of being that reminded Ed of Al in a way he couldn't quite put his finger on… It was an innocence of sorts, an uncorrupted way of looking at the world with hope and trust, as if those principles still had meaning.

Yet, it seemed to him that the predominant energy Ritsuka projected was one of extreme fragility, and this was something Ed intensely disliked about him. He didn't have time for fragile, and he detested neediness. Roy was already starting to piss him off in that department; he hated to admit it, but he almost would have preferred having his old, short-tempered, smirking commander back, rather than having to figure out how to deal with this new subservient version. Needy people irritated Edward. He had never been needy, not ever. Not when he lost his mother, not when he lost his limbs, not even when he lost Al. Neediness didn't make any sense to him. You picked up your pieces. You kept going. That was it.

This kid Ritsuka was like the poster child for neediness. Ed had seen orphans in the street with begging bowls looking less pathetic. It irked him the way he was always fawning over Soubi as if their roles were reversed. _If that guy was my Sentouki, I'd show him a thing or two, _Ed mused to himself. Soubi was different from Roy; following orders seemed like something that was bred into him, something he was taught to take pleasure in. In the back of Roy's mind, he knew at some point they'd be back in Amestris and he'd be kicking Ed all the way down the steps at Central; but Soubi was one hundred percent serious about being Ritsuka's devoted servant until the day he breathed his last breath. _This kid has no idea what kind of power he wields; no idea at all. _

Ed absentmindedly fiddled with Ritsuka's dark hair with his left hand, his human hand… _You have to wonder what is going on this kid's head, _he thought to himself.

As if in answer to his silent question, Ritsuka spoke. "Your brother. He's very important to you, isn't he."

Ed was somewhat taken aback by this seemingly-out-of-nowhere statement. "Yeah, well, of course he is. He's my little brother. It's my job to look after him. The older brother watches over the younger…" Scar's word's echoed in his head. _He had failed Al, failed him again…_

"Do… do all older brothers feel that way?" Ritsuka asked in a small voice.

"What? I don't know… yeah, I guess. Why, do you have…" Ed stopped. He felt Ritsuka's small frame tense in his lap. He realized he didn't know anything about this boy, or his family, or his life, at all.

"He's… he's dead. My brother. Seimei."

"Oh… I'm sorry." His arms instinctively closed around the dark haired boy, cradling him gently in his lap. Ritsuka ran his fingers up and down Ed's automail arm.

"Can you… feel this? Does it have feeling, this arm?" he asked quietly.

"Not… like you would think. I can feel it, I mean, the nerves are attached, but it's not the same kind of sensation as if it were my real arm."

"How did you… end up like this?" It was Ed's turn to shift uncomfortably. "I mean, you don't have to tell me, I was just… wondering."

Ed opened his mouth to create some pretext in order to avoid telling Ritsuka the truth, when he suddenly realized that he didn't want to. For some bizarre reason, he felt the desire to spill his guts to this fragile-looking, cat-eared boy in his lap. So he told him. Everything. About his mother, Al, human transmutation, his father, all of it. It occurred to him, as he lay there speaking softly to the ceiling, the weight of the other boy pressing gently down on him, that this was something he'd never done before. He'd never told anyone the entirety of his story, from start to finish. And Ritsuka just… listened. He never commented, never gasped in horror, never passed judgment, just… listened.

Finally, he was spent, and he lay there, still staring at the ceiling. He was just starting to feel uncomfortable and wonder whether Ritsuka had fallen asleep or something, when the other boy turned over, pressed his face into Edward's neck, and whispered, "Thank you for sharing your memories with me."

Ed felt the brush of soft lips against his cheek as he let a single tear escape. He held Ritsuka to him as tightly as he dared, fearing the boy's frailty and the wayward strength of his automail. Ritsuka responded by curling up closer to him, reaching up to stroke the curve of the blond boy's jaw. Before Ed had made a conscious decision, his tongue had flicked out and taken one of those small, slender fingers into his mouth. He looked into Ritsuka's wide eyes, noting his reddening cheeks, and was just deciding what he might like to do next, when there was an awful racket at the front door.

"What the…?" Both boys sat up on the couch. After a good deal of banging and shouting, in through the door stumbled their two Fighters, both soaking wet and looking a little worse for wear and tear. Soubi was struggling to hold up a completely and utterly inebriated Roy Mustang, who was unflappably belting out old army songs at the top of his lungs.

_"When this bleeding war is over; Oh how happy I shall be! When I get my civvy clothes on; No more soldiering for me - _FULLMETAL!!" he shouted as Ed came running over. "Guess wh… what we've been doing??"

"I can damn well guess! _Colonel! _You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Just look at you..." He and Ritsuka were trying unsuccessfully to get Roy to lower himself onto the couch.

"No, no, NO! You don't under-understand, see…" Roy was gasping for breath as he sank down on his knees onto the carpet. "I was… doing RESEARCH! Yes, _RESEARCH! _All for YOU! Like you… like you tole me to!"

Ed rolled his eyes glared at Soubi, who gave him a _don't look at me, I was just trying to help_ sort of look. He grabbed the back of Roy's jacket with his automail arm and hoisted him up, dragging him over to the couch.

"No, no I MEAN it! See, it said… it said in_Tactics for Naturally Talented or Aggressively Ambi... Ambidextrous... Fighters_ that being _inebri…_ that being_intoxic…_ that being DRUNK was a surefire way to disrupt the bond between Sentouki and Sacrifice!"

Ed wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to stand to listen to this. Suddenly Roy grabbed Ed by the front of his shirt and shouted, "This…is a very dangerous… thing! So… I was just, you know, testing it out, to see if it really worked! And guess what? Fucking works! Like right now! You told me to get out of your face! And I'm_in your face!! SEE??"_

Ed dropped Roy and let him fall between the couch and the coffee table. "I can't deal with this anymore… I'm going for a walk." He slammed the door behind him and left Ritsuka, Soubi and Roy alone in the apartment.

Ritsuka was staring up at Soubi with a strange look on his face. "Is that a hickey on your neck?"

Soubi pursed his lips. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Ritsuka shook his head, made a gesture like, fine, whatever, and left to go find Ed. Meanwhile, Roy Mustang continued to sing at full volume, without a care in the world:

_"No more church parades on Sundays,  
No more asking for a pass.  
We can tell the Sergeant Major  
To stick his passes up his ass!"_


	5. Chapter 5

Ed was fighting a losing battle of automail vs tree in the park that Winry would have almost certainly disapproved of when Ritsuka found him.

"Ed… Ed, this isn't going to help…" he started, but Edward ignored him and continued to hack away. Ritsuka came up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder. Irritated, Ed spun around mid swing to tell him to buzz off, but he stopped when he saw the boy's reaction. Ritsuka had immediately dropped to the ground, cringing, his hands held up protectively over his head.

"Hey, I wasn't… I didn't mean to…" Ed took a step forward, but Ritsuka only backed away, eyes wary, ears flattened against his head, tail puffed out. Weirdly, Ed was reminded of the cats that Al used to bring home, particularly the ones he'd rescued from horrible little boys who liked to throw rocks. He decided to try what usually worked with them: he dropped to the ground where he was, sat cross-legged and put his hands on his knees, palms up. "Ritsuka. I wasn't going to hurt you."

"I-I know," Ritsuka stammered. He was taking deep breaths, clearly trying to calm himself. "I'm… I'm sorry. It's just… sometimes… swift movements…"

Ed was watching Ritsuka closely. The black-haired boy avoided his gaze, pulling up wet grass with nervous fingers. _Who's been throwing rocks at you?_

"Look, Ritsuka… I have to ask you. Those bandages…" he gestured to the anxious boy's cheek and his left wrist, which he was now trying ineffectively to cover up, "they're not all from spell battles, are they."

"I-I'm… clumsy. That's all," Ritsuka said in a small voice.

"Right. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine, but don't lie to me, okay? I fucking hate liars."

Ritsuka was silent. He seemed to fold into himself, becoming more distant somehow, as if he had taken a step backward, though he hadn't physically moved at all.

"It isn't… it isn't Soubi who-" Ed began.

"What – NO! How could you even _think_ that, how _could_ you – " He glared at Edward, clearly agitated, his little fists pounding the ground in frustration.

"Alright, alright – look, I don't know, okay? All I know is what I can see. I see you, covered in bandages, flinching from me like a frightened little kitten. What am I supposed to think?"

"…that's just _stupid_, I mean, you _know_ how it is to be Fighter and Sacrifice, you know that Soubi has to obey my orders!" Ritsuka shouted. "Why would I let him hit me?"

"Why would you let anyone hit you?" Ed countered, before he could stop himself.

Ritsuka's eyes widened, enormous bright saucers glowering in the darkness for an instant before he took off like a rocket, running blindly down the path and out of the park.

Ed started to follow, then realized Ritsuka would probably think that he was trying to kill him, and thought better of it. _Well, I screwed that up royally._

He sighed. Thinking it would in actuality be easier to deal with his idiot drunken bastard of a Colonel than to try to figure out this friggin headcase kid, he headed back towards Soubi's apartment. He supposed he would just wake up Ritsuka's Fighter and have him deal with it. _That is, if he really was telling the truth, and it's not Soubi who's abusing him…_ Ed was pretty sure it wasn't Soubi, though. The Fighter/Sacrifice bond made that possibility highly unlikely, and besides, Ed was generally a pretty good judge of character, and he didn't think Soubi was that type.

Still, if he wasn't the one abusing him, he was allowing it to go on, which was just as bad. Edward had a few things to say to him, now that he thought about it, and there was no time like the present.

* * *

Soubi had finally managed to get Roy out of his wet clothes and into bed without too much bodily injury, and he was just sitting down to have a cigarette when Roy's little blond Sacrifice came storming back into the apartment, eyes aflame. _Uh-oh…_

"Hey, you," Ed spat out.

"Hmmm? Still upset with me for getting your Sentouki drunk?" Soubi wasn't sure whether playing it cool would work with Edward, but he was going to try anyway.

"No, I'm over that. What I want to know is, what the fuck is the matter with you that you are allowing Ritsuka to be abused right under your fucking pretty-boy nose, and you're not doing a goddamned thing about it?"

For the second time that evening, Soubi nearly dropped his cigarette. _So much for playing it cool._ "He… he told you?"

"No, he didn't fucking tell me. He didn't have to. He's covered in injuries, he flinches every time a bird flies by too quickly, and he trembles like a frightened rabbit. Anyone who's not a complete idiot would be able to tell in about 30 seconds. Everyone except you, apparently." Edward was fuming, brandishing his metal fist in Soubi's direction.

Soubi sighed, putting his hand to the bridge of his nose. "He ordered me to leave her alone. I have to follow his orders. There's nothing I can – "

"LIKE HELL there's nothing! What the hell kind of Fighter are you that you can't find a way to – wait, what did you say? Her?" Ed stopped, momentarily taken aback.

"His mother. It's… his mother. I've tried… I've tried to talk to him about it, to get him to allow me to go home with him, but he wont. He's convinced that it's his fault, that he deserves it…"

"And you let him keep believing that?" Ed was still in a state of disbelief. _His mother…_

"He wont talk to me about it. It's forbidden conversation. If I bring it up, he'll order me into silence. Don't you think I've tried?"

"Sure as hell doesn't seem like it."

"Don't you think this bothers me more than it bothers you? Ritsuka is… everything to me. Everything…" Soubi looked exhausted, both physically and mentally. Despite his irrationality, Ed felt sympathy for him.

"Look, you should go talk to him _now._ He just ran away from me in the park… he's freaking out. He needs you."

Soubi immediately stood up and headed for the door. "Where did you last see him?"

"Headed out of the north entrance to the park. By the… um… damaged tree. You can't miss it."

"Thank you. Edward, I…"

"Just go."

Soubi met Ed's eyes one more time, nodded and closed the door behind him.

* * *

Feeling completely worn out, Ed climbed into bed with Roy, once more curled up against his sleeping Fighter. _So, this is how it's going to be, from now on…_ Against his will, Ed found himself shaking with silent sobs. It was just too much, all these crazy people, all this drama; he just wanted to rest, just for once, to let go… He remembered nights spent curled up in the nest of Al's armor, and he wished with all his might he could be back there, against that cold metal, rather than in this warm bed, cold as ice inside.

He beat against Roy's chest with his human fist. _Why are you drunk, why are you asleep, why are you… you!_ Roy didn't wake, but he wrapped his arms around Ed in his sleep, drawing him close. Ed found himself clinging to Roy, and he hated himself for it, but he clung nevertheless.

"His mother, Roy, his own mother… How could a mother do that to her child? Imagine having a mother who was alive, but so… awful? How is it possible? Tell me how!"

Roy only sighed in his sleep and pulled Ed closer. Ed lay his head on Roy's chest and tried to pretend he wasn't crying himself to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Ritsuka ran. He raced down streets whose names were unfamiliar; he rushed past restaurants with their awnings taken in for the evening; he tore through the silent city like a shadow of a sprite, invisible to its sleeping denizens. So long as he ran, he didn't have to think, he didn't have to see. If he couldn't think, he couldn't see, he couldn't hurt. So he ran.

When the pain in his chest made it impossible for him to continue running, he concentrated on his breathing. _Breathe. lungs. air. good. pain. stop._ What was it his new therapist had said? _Your breath is an incredibly powerful tool, belonging solely to you._ He focused on the air being pulled into his lungs and forced back out again. _Breathe. Inhale. Through your nose. Eight counts. Exhale. Through your mouth. Eight counts. Deep, calming breaths._ One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. _Run._

As hard as he tried, as fast as he ran, he couldn't stop the images from coming. _"Why would you let anyone hit you?"_ Edward's words echoed in his head. _He doesn't understand; he doesn't know. I'm not the real Ritsuka. It's my fault. He doesn't know…_

He shook his head, trying to dislodge the whirling thoughts. _It's fine. Things've gotten better. It's fine now. He doesn't know._ Summer break had just started, and he had managed to convince his mother that he spent most of his time at academic camp during the day and most nights sleeping over friends' houses. In her current drug-addled state, most days it seemed she hardly noticed him. Even on days when he had curfew, he could generally slip out the window and make it over to Soubi's place without much of a problem. Sure, last week he had forgotten to leave the window unlocked and she had caught him coming in the door at 3AM, which had been… troublesome. Still, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had once been.

_What the hell does that stupid blond kid know anyway?_ Ritsuka was irritated with himself for allowing the other boy to trigger him the way he had. He knew Ed was just upset because of what had happened with Roy, and he was probably just pushing Ritsuka's buttons on purpose to avoid talking about his own problems. _I thought I was over this; I thought it had gotten better, I thought they had gone away…_

But they hadn't. Not really. The flashbacks. Sometimes they were scenes he was familiar with: his mother's fists, dishes shattering, being scalded with hot water, putting his hands up to stop the blows. Even more disturbing, though, were the images that he did not recognize at all. He would be running through dark corridors, peering through closed doors, but never catching a glimpse of what was inside. Sometimes Seimei was there, and Ritsuka would try to reach him, but he would always disappear. These images also appeared in Ritsuka's nightmares, so he thought maybe he had just dreamed them… but then, maybe they were the real Ritsuka's memories, and that's why he, the false Ritsuka, couldn't identify them? 

Whatever they were, they had appeared in full force when Edward had turned to face him, eyes full of fury, his metal arm raised in anger. Terror had stricken him. He couldn't breathe. His entire being screamed at him to get back, get away, run. Run. It had taken everything he had to just sit there, breathe, and talk to Ed, trying to convince him that he was normal, that he wasn't screwed up, that he was fine. _So much for that plan._

What he wouldn't give just to lead a normal life, be a normal kid, just for one day. To be concerned only with report cards and sports clubs and who was going out with whom. _It would never happen,_ he thought bitterly. He could never pass for normal. _It's because I'm not real. I don't deserve to be here. People know. They can tell._

Ritsuka often wondered what would happen if he just… disappeared. Just went away one day. Would anyone even notice, or care? His mother? His classmates? Soubi? _Maybe Soubi. Maybe Soubi would care…_ But then, could he really trust Soubi? Did he really know, for sure, that the man wasn't just filling his head with lies? Even after all this time, Ritsuka still didn't… couldn't… trust him completely. In fact, when he thought about it, there was no one he could trust completely…

_No one. Since Seimei died, I've had no one. No one._ The words pounded in his head in time with his rapid heartbeat: _no one, no one, no one._ He ran faster. Tears blurred his vision. Taking a sharp turn down an alleyway, he slipped, and suddenly he was falling. He put out his hands to catch himself, forgetting that his left wrist was already badly sprained. The pain was so intense when he hit the ground that he blacked out. When he came to, he tried to get up, but he was dizzy and sick. He lay back down against the garbage bags. He lifted his right arm. _Blood._ He must have scraped his wrists when he fell, or cut them on something sharp. He lifted his left. _Bad idea. Pain. Nausea. Darkness._

The next thing he was aware of was the feeling of strong arms encircling him, lifting him up, cradling him. The smell of tobacco. _Soubi._ Only something was wrong. Soubi was shaking. Ritsuka tried to speak to him, but he found he had no strength. Mercifully, he lost consciousness again.


	7. Chapter 7

Agatsuma Soubi sat in a plastic chair in the small hospital room, his head in his hands. His little Sacrifice lay next to him, breathing quietly in a deeply drugged sleep. Ritsuka's wrists were wrapped in bandages and an IV sluggishly dripped sugar water into his veins. Machines monitoring his heart rate and blood pressure bleeped faintly.

_This is my fault. All my fault. Edward was right. What kind of Fighter am I…_

He sat up and stretched his long legs, only to wrap them once again around the legs of the small chair, coiled in anxiety. How had he allowed this to happen… Ritsuka had been right there, in his apartment, just a few short hours before, and he had looked, well, fine. A little irritated with him, maybe, but certainly not… suicidal. He gave no outward sign. Soubi couldn't have known. _And yet…_

And yet, _he ought to have known_. A part of him had always suspected he would end up right here, just like this, one day. One day, Ritsuka's mother would get a little too violent; one day, he wouldn't be able to predict his mood swings; one day, he might get desperate enough to try to… take his own life.

It had nearly killed him, finding Ritsuka as he had. He'd searched for him everywhere, finally having to rely on his Fighter's sense alone to pick up his signal; his life force was so weak, he was almost invisible. When he saw him lying there, his face pale and lifeless, his little body strewn across the garbage bags like an abandoned rag doll that some young girl had long forgotten, crimson blood still dripping from his torn wrists… it was all Soubi could do to keep the fabric of his world from unraveling completely._No. It can't be true. No!_ He rushed forward and fell to his knees, heedless of the filth in the alleyway, taking his Sacrifice into his arms. He placed his head against Ritsuka's chest and desperately, desperately listened for the sound of his tiny beating heart. _Please. Please. God, if you exist. Anyone. Please. Let him be alive. Let him be okay. Please…_

When he finally caught the faint echo of a heartbeat, Soubi wept in relief. His frame shook with sobs as he crushed Ritsuka to him, thanking every god he didn't believe in for divine mercy he didn't feel he deserved. Not knowing what else to do, he had rushed to the nearest hospital. When they had asked for Rituska's name, he'd given it, and when they had asked for his own name, he'd lied and told them...

"Aoyagi Seimei?"

Soubi broke out of his reverie and looked up. The doctor was calling him. "Yes?"

"If you would follow me, please."

Soubi hesitated; he didn't want to leave Ritsuka alone.

"This will only take a few minutes. He wont wake; he's been thoroughly sedated."

Glancing one more time at his sleeping Sacrifice, Soubi followed the grey-haired doctor outside the door and down the hall. He remembered him as the surgeon from last night; an older gentleman, seemingly kind. He'd reassured Soubi that the wounds on Ritsuka's wrists were not deep enough to be deadly. It looked much worse than it was, he had said. The boy would be fine. Soubi could have kissed him.

The doctor stopped in front of an x-ray display and clicked it on. He pointed out where Ritsuka had sprained his wrist, likely from falling on it, though it had been damaged previously. Did Aoyagi-san know anything about the previous injury? Soubi replied that he wasn't sure, but he thought it had happened while Ritsuka was at camp. And the cut on his cheek? At camp as well? Soubi nodded, his insides curdling like sour milk. He didn't like being a part of this deception, but he didn't know what else to do. Was there anything that Aoyagi-san wanted to tell the doctor? Anything at all?

Soubi looked down. "Ritsuka sees a… a psychologist."

"I see. Do you have his or her name? They should be informed about this incident." He was jotting down notes on his clipboard.

"I can… get it for you," Soubi answered slowly. "Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"Can you tell me… Can we be sure that…" Soubi was unused to being at a loss for words. The crafting of ideas into sounds, the gentle spells that they cast: these things were his whole life. Yet in this moment, his spellcasting skills abandoned him, and he just stood there, looking at the doctor with desperate, pleading eyes.

"That the wounds were self-inflicted?" Soubi nodded. The doctor continued, "It's hard to say. The markings on the left wrist were consistent with scrapes from a fall. The right wrist bears a single laceration from a sharp object. You reported that you did not find any such objects at the scene?"

"I... I was somewhat… distracted."

"Understandably so. Well, until we know more, I'm afraid, as the results are consistent with a suicide attempt, I'll have to report it as such. He will need a psych evaluation before being released, either with his own doctor or one of ours. Was there… anything else?" The doctor's piercing blue eyes seemed to shine straight into Soubi's troubled conscience. All of a sudden he felt the urge to do something utterly unlike himself. The thick liquid of truth was boiling up inside him, stuck in his throat like bile, making him want to retch. _What kind of Fighter are you…?_

Soubi coughed. "Doctor, there is… something."

"Yes?" The piercing eyes narrowed.

"His… our… mother…"

A screech echoed down the hall from the direction they had come. Soubi's heart stopped. _Ritsuka._ He flew back down the hallway, leaping over gurneys and hospital equipment, wind gathering from nowhere blowing back his hair. _She's here. They called the house. They told her Seimei was here. This is my fault._

His fears were confirmed when he saw the nurses rushing to call security, pointing into the little room where he had abandoned his Sacrifice, whom he was sworn to protect. One glance through the window was all he needed to see. That horrible woman, raising her hand against her helpless little boy who was lying unconscious, completely defenseless.

Power radiated from his body like lightning. Aoyagi Misaki was slammed against the wall before Soubi even put his hand on the door. In an instant he was at Ritsuka's side, frantically examining him to see if he'd been hurt further, trembling hands struggling to fix the IV that had been partially ripped out of his arm. Nurses and security guards rushed into the room, demanding to know what had happened.

Hands started to pull him away from Ritsuka, and Soubi panicked. The windows shook. The room grew dark. Bottles of liquid exploded. Soubi clung to Ritsuka, willing himself to calm down. He felt sick; he had disobeyed a direct order, attacking Ritsuka's mother like that. Waves of nausea washed over him; he forced himself to breathe. _I've got to be okay. I can't afford to lose control. I don't have time to be terrified. I must be okay. I must be okay for Ritsuka._

Summoning every ounce of strength he had left, he willed everyone in the room to be still and silent. Gently, he began to weave his version of reality into their minds. _Everything is fine. The crazy woman slipped and hit her head and is now unconscious. She needs medical attention. She was the cause of all the disturbance. The man sitting on the bed is the victim's brother. He was trying to help. You want to let him stay. You don't need to question him now. Allow him to stay with his brother._

The all-embracing spell dripped into the room like honey, seeping steadily into each individual psyche. The people slowly started moving again, picking up the broken glass and lifting Misaki off of the floor. A nurse approached Soubi and asked softly if she could put Ritsuka's IV right. Soubi let her do it. Ritsuka didn't seem to have suffered any further damage. Breathing a sigh of relief, Soubi turned to the doctor, who had just stepped through the door. An astute man, he took one look at the surroundings and nodded in Soubi's direction.

"I see. We shall continue our conversation a little later, then?"

Soubi nodded in return, bending down to kiss Ritsuka on top of his head. He waited for the doctor and nurses to leave. As soon as they were gone, he picked up his cell phone and started dialing frantically.


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as Ed awoke, he knew that something was wrong. He got up, disentangling himself from his still-sleeping Fighter, and searched the apartment. No Ritsuka. No Soubi. No sign that either of them had been back. _Crap. This is bad._ He went back into the bedroom and started shaking Roy awake.

"Roy. Roy! Damn it, Colonel, wake _up!"_ Roy rolled over sleepily. He shifted himself to get a look at the clock. It was now midmorning. He supposed Edward was upset because he'd slept through his orders to read from dawn till dusk. Ah well. It wasn't the first time he'd slept through orders. It wasn't the first time he'd had to work despite a hangover, either. He sighed.

"Okay, okay, I'm up already. Can I at least take a leak before hitting the books?" He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, shuffled into the bathroom and was halfway through doing his business before it hit him that something must be up. Ed hadn't answered him. There had been no _goddamn it, Colonel, why do you always have so many excuses_, no _how the hell did you attain such a high rank in the military when you are clearly unable to follow simple orders_, no _how are we ever going to get out of here and rescue Al if you can't even drag your lazy ass out of bed in the morning_, nothing.

"Edward?"

"What, you need me to order you to take a piss? You know something, Mustang? I'm getting just a little bit tired of this. The quicker we get the fuck out of here, the better. Figure it out yourself," Ed yelled from the other room.

_Ah, that's more like it._ _Maybe I was just imagining things…_ Roy walked back into the room to find Ed pacing back and forth in front of the window, glancing out fretfully, then turning back. Every other step clanked heavily on the wooden floor. He swung his metal arm around in its socket a few times, punching the air methodically in time with his pacing. _No, there's definitely something wrong._

"Ed? Is… everything okay?" Ed stopped his pacing and turned. Roy was waiting for the inevitable, _no goddamnit everything is clearly NOT okay_, but it never came. Instead, troubled golden eyes met his.

"We've got to help him, Roy. Ritsuka, I mean."

"What? What's wrong with him? Other than the obvious, I mean."

Ed's eyes narrowed. "And what would that be? The obvious."

_Uh oh._ Roy recognized that particular tone of voice all too well. It came around so often that he had even given it a nickname in his head: "Edward's Hammer of Justice". Once he got started on that track, there was no stopping him. Clearly, some time last night, Ritsuka had been added to the list of people Ed felt he must fight to protect.

Roy paused. "I just meant that he seemed… troubled. That's all."

"Well, he is. And that idiot pretty-boy Soubi is totally useless. He's never going to intervene. It's got to be us."

"You found something out last night."

Ed ran his human hand through his hair, smoothing his fingers over his braid. "Yeah. All those bandages? They're not from fighting. It's his…" Ed's voice dropped so that it was barely perceptible. "…his mother."

"His mother abuses him."

Ed nodded, turning away. The idea was still so repulsive to him, it made him sick thinking about it. He swallowed. His tongue was thick in his mouth. He felt Roy's hand on his shoulder, and he started to swat it away, but he found that his need for support exceeded his desire to assert his independence at the moment. His feelings from last night were still raw and they pressed against him like dark wings, demanding purchase.

Roy was stroking his back gently and Ed suddenly felt tremendously grateful for his Colonel, a rare sentiment. Sure, Roy could be a pain in the ass, but he would never… If Ed were ever in Ritsuka's place - an idea that was inconceivable to him - but if he were, he knew for a fact that Roy would never, ever make excuses like Soubi. Ever. This world would go down in flames before he would allow something like that to continue. Roy had never abandoned him, not even when he and Al had been on the run from the military, and Ed had never forgotten that.

Ed leaned back, allowing Roy to wrap his arms around him from behind. He closed his eyes. Roy was rocking him gently side to side, and though he was loathe to admit it, the movement felt oddly comforting. "Edward. It's alright."

Ed twisted in his arms. "No! It's not. It can't be. It _wont_ be, unless we do something about it."

"I didn't mean that what's happening is okay. I meant that it's okay for you to feel what you're feeling."

Ed snorted. "Oh _brother._ We're starting to sound like _them._ This is _bad_, Roy. I don't want to be like… I don't want you to be like…" he paused. Suddenly, Roy felt his Sacrifice's arms wrapping tightly around his waist. "Please don't let us be like _them_. I need you to be_you_ right now."

Surprised, Roy placed his hand on Edward's head and stroked his hair thoughtfully. Ed sniffed. After a moment, Roy pulled back. Taking Ed's shoulders in his hands, he got down on one knee in front of him so that they were eye to eye. "All right, Fullmetal, if that's what you want, are you willing to listen to me? Right now? Will you agree not to order me into silence?"

Flames of anger rose in Ed's amber-colored eyes, but he took a breath and managed to calm himself. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he nodded. Roy continued. "If we are going to be of any help to Ritsuka or to Alphonse, we are going to need to work together a little better than we have been." The flames returned as Ed immediately started to object, but Roy stopped him with a finger to his lips. "You promised. Hear me out first." Ed rolled his eyes, but agreed nevertheless.

"This situation with Ritsuka… it's a very delicate one, to put it mildly. And we have almost no information about the boy, his family, or even how that kind of thing works in this world. It would be exceedingly rash - just listen to me, Edward - " Roy tightened his grip on Ed's shoulders as he started to protest. "It would be exceedingly rash to go charging into this with fire and sword. I know how much the situation angers you, and I know you feel like you have to do something immediately to stop it. But you could seriously, seriously hurt him if you act too quickly. You could make it worse than it already is. Ed, for all we know, we could be transported out of this world tomorrow. It was a fluke that we arrived here, and with another random accident, we could just as easily depart. You of all people ought to know what kind of thing can happen when you show up, tear down the walls, and then take off. I'm not saying that to shame you - " Ed's cheeks had colored and he had developed a sudden interest in his toes. "I know what happened at Liore was not entirely the fault of yourself and Alphonse. I'm just saying that occasionally, it's better to wait, gather information, and then make your move. If you have learned anything from me as a soldier, I hope it's that foresight can be a useful tool."

Roy stood. He turned away from Ed, his hands laced together behind his back. "I know that you are angry with me. I know that you're using this Fighter-Sacrifice clusterfuck to get back at me for all those times I made you do things you didn't want to do as your superior officer. You may not think I get it, but I do. Believe me, if I had the opportunity to order around some of my old superiors like puppy dogs, you bet I'd take advantage of that situation. I also know that you blame me for separating you from Al again, and you probably blame me for dragging you into the military when you were 12."

He sighed and turned to face Edward once more. "You know, I didn't even know, at the time."

"Didn't know what?" Ed asked, looking up.

"That you were only 11. When I came to Rizembul to recruit you. The papers from Central said 'Edward Elric, 31 years old'."

"Fucking Central. Don't they ever get anything right?" Ed rolled his eyes again, but this time he was grinning.

"If I thought it would help, I'd apologize," Roy sighed. "I made the best choices I could with the information I was given at the time."

"It's… all right. I mean…" Ed paused, scratching behind one cat-ear. "If I hadn't… If you hadn't come along, just then, things might have… turned out a lot worse for me. And for Al." He smiled darkly. "Too bad you couldn't have come the day before, though, eh?"

"We almost did. Hawkeye and I. The train was delayed."

"Are you serious?"

"Completely. I remember being irritated about it. Made me miss a date with a really good looking girl."

"Well… lucky for her," Ed giggled.

"Hey!" Roy automatically moved his fingers into snapping position.

"You're not even wearing your gloves, dumbass."

"That can change quickly," Roy answered, once again wrapping his arms around his Sacrifice.

"Whatever." Resting his head against Roy's chest, Ed realized he was actually feeling much better. Maybe he ought to let Roy have a say more often? _Nah…_

"Do you think…" Roy began. "Do you think I'd have actually been able to stop you? Back then."

"Probably not. We'd have just waited for you to leave, and then did it anyway. We were pretty determined. Or I was, anyway. You know Al, he always had more… foresight. But he always listened to me. Maybe if he hadn't, maybe if I'd listened to him a bit more…"

Roy pulled him closer. "Ed, we've all made choices we regret. For some of us, the pain and guilt over those choices will always be there in one form or another. Nevertheless, it doesn't help to continue to pour salt on your own wounds. You were 11 years old, you'd lost your mother, your father was nowhere to be found, and you were in possession of an extremely formidable and perilous gift that you had only just begun to understand. It's a wonder you didn't destroy the entire village of Rizembul."

"Like Liore."

"I knew I shouldn't have brought that up."

"Forget it. It's… all right." Ed took Roy's hands in his. "I'm… glad we had this talk. I'll… try to be a better Sacrifice. It's just been… a little stressful, what with all this happening at once…"

"It's okay," Roy answered, gently squeezing Edward's mismatched hands. "I understand."

Their reverie was broken by a knock at the door. "Why are they knocking? Do you think Ritsuka lost his key?" Ed separated himself from Roy and ran to the door.

As Roy came up behind him, he saw that the person standing in the doorway was neither Ritsuka nor Soubi, but someone neither he nor Ed knew. The stranger was tall, with a mop of flyaway blonde hair. He was dressed in a pink button-down shirt, untucked, with black jeans. Oddly, he was sucking on a little round lollipop. He didn't take the pop out of his mouth before introducing himself, either, which Roy found extremely rude.

"Hi. Um… I know this is a bit awkward, but, I'm Kaido Kio. I'm a friend of Soubi's. He sent me down here to get you guys." The words spilled out of his mouth all at once, as if he were going downhill very quickly.

"What the hell happened?" Ed demanded. Roy's hand was back on his shoulder.

"It's Ritsuka… he's in the hospital. They think he tried to kill himself."


	9. Chapter 9

"What the hell happened?" Ed demanded. Roy's hand was back on his shoulder.

"It's Ritsuka… he's in the hospital. They think he tried to kill himself."

Roy had to catch Edward to keep him from falling. Realizing that the chances of Ed throwing an alchemical fit and bringing the entire house down around their ears in the next ten seconds were extremely high, Roy acted on instinct: he grabbed Ed's human arm and threw it over his own shoulder. This would prevent Ed from being able to clap his two hands together at least long enough for Roy to tell this idiot with the lollipop to run for it.

What happened next took Roy completely by surprise. Instead of fighting him, Ed leaped into his arms and clung to him like a little child. Roy found himself staggering backwards, suddenly enveloped in metal arms and legs. Getting a grip on his Sacrifice as best as he could, he held him tightly, willing him to be calm. He spoke to Kio through clenched teeth. "Thank you. I very much appreciate your use of tact and subtlety. Anyone else you would like to devastate today?"

Kio nearly choked on his lollipop. "Oh – hey! Sorry! I'm just the messenger, don't blame me! Sheesh! I mean… I didn't know how to, you know…" He pushed his disheveled hair back over his forehead, revealing multiple earrings. "GAH! Why is Soubi always putting me in situations like this…?!" His eyes were darting back and forth and he clearly wished he could run for it.

Still glaring at Kio, Roy shifted Edward to his hip, looking for all the world like an angry mother protecting her child. That is, if mothers ever contemplated incinerating their enemies in one stroke. Kio braced himself, but it was Ed who spoke first. "Roy… lemme go… I think I'm gonna be sick." As soon as Roy dropped Ed he took off stumbling towards the bathroom.

Roy folded his arms. Kio turned pale. The look Roy was currently giving him had reduced much stronger men than Kaido Kio to whimpering, quivering little worms crawling about on his office floor.

"S-so, uh… you're Roy, right?" Kio stuttered. _I'm gonna kill Soubi for this,_ he thought to himself, _I really am. I can't believe he made me come here. He's crazy. They're both crazy!_

Roy didn't move. Kio was nervously fingering his lollipop, switching it from his left hand to his right. He was about to stick it back into his mouth when Roy snapped his fingers and it burst into flame.

"What the FUCK??" Kio jumped back about 10 feet, dropping the lollipop in his surprise. The flames went out.

"Look at that. Didn't even need the gloves. Wait till I tell Edward." Roy was studying his hand with renewed interest. Kio was convinced that he had gone seriously batshit crazy.

"Did – did you just…??"

"You asked me who I am. I will tell you. I am the Flame Alchemist, Colonel Roy Mustang. So very pleased to meet you. I suggest that you come in, make yourself a cup of tea, and try to pull your lollipop-sucking-pretty-boy head out of your ass while I go pick up the pieces of my subordinate." His venomous tone abruptly switched to a brusque military bark. "When I get back here, I want details. Hospital location. Room number. Visitation rights. Any other pertinent information. Got it?"

Kio wagged his head up and down vigorously, his eyes never leaving the charred lollipop on the floor. "Right. Got it. Yes. Yes, Sir."

"Good." Roy abruptly turned away from him and walked swiftly in the direction Edward had taken.

Ed was kneeling on the bathroom floor, his head pressed against the cold porcelain toilet seat. Breathing hard, he was trying to force himself to calm down. _Damn it, I've been through much worse than this. What the hell is the matter with me?_ He punched the floor with his metal fist, making ugly gouges in Soubi's white linoleum.

_That fucking kid tried to kill himself because of me._

He tried to tell himself that it wasn't true, that Ritsuka had some serious issues, that it couldn't have been just because of what he had said, but it wasn't working. Guilt poured over him like bitter acid; he couldn't escape its insidious grip. Roy was right. It had happened just like he said it would. _You could seriously, seriously hurt him if you act too quickly. You could make it worse than it already is._ Ed smiled bitterly. _Oh, I made it worse, all right._

For a moment he thought he was going to be sick again, but the wave of nausea passed. For the ten thousandth time since he'd arrived in this world, he wished Al were there with him. Al was the perfect person to have around in these situations. Ed could always count on his brother to let him know when he had overstepped his boundaries and done something stupid, as opposed to the times when he was just making himself feel guilty for no reason. He desperately needed that level headed advice now, but his little brother was achingly far away from him.

He attempted to get up and go to the sink to splash some water on his face, but he became immediately dizzy and crashed right back down. This made him angry and he started kicking. He managed to turn Soubi's decorative wire wastebasket into a lovely pile of scrap metal by the time Roy was able to force his way inside.

"Ed! _Ed!_ Stop it! Are you listening to me? This isn't going to help!" He rushed over to his Sacrifice, got down on the floor directly behind Ed and wrapped his arms and legs around him, trying to prevent him from hurting himself. Roy was afraid he might order him to leave, but again Ed surprised him: he merely ceased his struggling and collapsed into Roy's arms. He was shaking all over. Roy stroked his limbs soothingly, resting his chin on top of his head, cradling him gently between his legs. "Edward. It's going to be all right."

Ed leaned back against Roy until his body stopped shuddering. For the second time that day, he felt extremely grateful to Roy for just_being_ there. He put his hands on Roy's knees and stared up at the ceiling. "I really, really fucked up this time, didn't I."

"Edward. This was in no way your fault."

"You don't know. You don't know what happened, what I said to him last night."

"Look at me, Fullmetal." Roy leaned back and gently lifted Edward's chin so that they were eye to eye. "Have I ever lied to you? Have I ever treated you with kid gloves? Have I ever told you once in your entire military career that you _weren't_ to blame for something when I knew you _were?_ Think about it."

"But… but before, you were saying I shouldn't rush into this, that I could make it worse, that I could hurt him really badly…"

"What I meant was that you shouldn't burst into his house and try to pull his mother off of him by force. You didn't do that, did you?"

"Well, no, but…"

"So, you confronted him about the issue. That doesn't make you responsible for his irrational behavior."

"I should have followed him. I should have made sure he was okay. And I shouldn't have said what I said. He's too fragile. I pushed him over the edge. The way he reacted to me, Roy, you should have seen him… he was just so frightened. I scared him half to death."

"Small kittens mewing too loudly scare him half to death. Ed, this isn't your fault. The kid's got problems. We don't even know what happened. It might have had nothing to do with you. How many times do I have to tell you that you need to gather more information before drawing irrational conclusions? Work with me here, Fullmetal. You know that what I'm telling you is logical."

Ed turned away, fidgeting, then lay back against Roy once more. He sighed. "I just… I can't fucking tell anymore. I can't tell which way is up. I miss Al. I hate it when he's not here. It's like I don't even know my own name."

"I know your name, Edward Elric. And you may not want to hear this, but I'm going to tell you anyway..." Roy pulled Ed closer to him and spoke directly into his ear. "I know that the people you choose to protect are very important to you, but you can't let them define who you are. You can't let your worth be determined by how well or how poorly you protect the ones around you. Because the truth is, Edward, that despite your best intentions, people die, and they die on your watch, and they even…" Roy swallowed. "They even die by your own hand. That is a soldier's lot, and no matter how much you rail against it, it's not going to change."

"So, what, I'm just supposed to accept it?" Ed turned to face Roy, eyes blazing. "I'm just supposed to accept the fact that a boy just tried to _kill himself_ because of _me?_ I'm just supposed to accept the fact that that bastard Tucker _mutilated_ his own daughter and caused her to be killed and I couldn't do anything to stop it? That I mutilated my little brother trying to bring my mother back from the dead? That Hughes was murdered by homunculi who were after me, because of what I did, because of secrets I know, because of sins I committed? Is that what you're saying? That I should just say, 'Oh well, another day in the life of a State Alchemist! Let's go see what town I can decimate this week!' It's no wonder Scar wanted to kill us all. We're monsters, Roy. We should never have been born. I should never have been…"

Squirming out of Roy's grasp, Ed buried his head in his hands. Roy leaned forward to comfort him, but then Ed suddenly spun around and grabbed Roy by the front of his shirt, straddling him. "Tell me right now! Do you honestly accept it? That Hughes is dead, and you couldn't do anything about it? That you killed Winry's parents? You're fine with that? Tell me how fine you are! Tell me it doesn't keep you up at night! Look me in the eyes and tell me the truth!"

Roy looked at him. He kept looking, till his eyes started to become blurry, then he closed them. A single tear escaped. He felt Ed fall against his chest, quivering, his mismatched arms reaching around behind him. "Roy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I didn't…" Roy held him, keeping his eyes closed. Strangely, a prayer came to him in that moment. If there were gods, Roy had never believed in any of them, but a prayer came nevertheless. _Please, don't let him ever have to feel pain like this. Let that kid Ritsuka be okay. Please._


	10. Chapter 10

Soubi held Ritsuka close to his chest with his eyes closed. He breathed in the scent of his soft black hair and gently stroked his little cat-ears. _Ritsuka. I love you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. _The words echoed in his head over and over again. It was as if he were trying to send the message through touch alone, through force of will, through his very bones: _I'm sorry. I love you. I'm sorry. _

In that moment, Soubi felt utterly powerless. He could craft spells with his mind, causing the laws of physics to cease their normal function and bend to his will. Yet he could do nothing for his little Sacrifice, the one he loved most in all the world. He was pouring every ounce of energy his soul possessed into this little boy, this exquisite creature whom he had come to cherish more than his own existence, and yet, it was nothing. He was nothing. _What the hell kind of Fighter are you? _A useless one. A piece of garbage.

If only he had encouraged Ritsuka to come to him, to confide in him… He had made himself unapproachable, somehow, without meaning to. Why had he acted in such a way? He could have helped; he could have talked Ritsuka down from it. If only he had been paying closer attention…

Soubi was no stranger to suicide. He had seriously attempted it twice: once after Seimei had gone, and once, before that, during his… training. After crossing that threshold, after the act of taking his own life had moved from the realm of abstract concept to concrete reality, his world had been permanently altered. The Angel of Death became a constant companion, beckoning to him at every corner. It became necessary to make a choice, every day, whether to live or to die. To refuse the Angel meant finding the strength to endure one more day. To accept would mean the end, the end of everything.

Walking with this choice every night and day was exhausting. It caused reality to blur a bit around the edges. Things just didn't seem as real once you had the option of leaving them all forever spread out in front of you. Everyone and everything seemed distant. People spoke, but their words were dull and muted. The veil between the worlds became thin once the gates of life and death stood open.

To think that Ritsuka had been walking this path alone and Soubi hadn't even cared to notice… it was eating him alive inside. How had he become so numb, so uncaring? How could he have missed the red flags? Why hadn't he seen…?

_But he knew very well why._ The truth was, and this was the thought that was making him sick… Soubi didn't have any red flags, and he hadn't had any for a long, long time. He had always told himself that if things ever got really bad with Ritsuka, he'd have to intervene… but the problem was, he had no means of measuring what _really bad_ was supposed to be. After all that he had seen and experienced, the flags had just stopped working. What was dangerous? What was _really bad? _He honestly didn't know. He would have asked other people if he had had someone to ask.

To Soubi, pain was relative. He could remember being Ritsuka's age, lying in bed, trembling and nauseous, trying desperately to heal his broken bones overnight so that he would be able to deal with whatever was going to happen to him in the morning. He would breathe into the pain, willing it to go away, and at the same time relishing it, as it was the one sensation that was uniquely his, that belonged solely to him. Of course he didn't like it that Ritsuka's mother hit him, but surely it wasn't… like that. Systematic. Brutal. Pitiless. So long as it wasn't… _really bad. _

If that Elric kid hadn't shown up and waved all the flags in his face like that, he wouldn't even have noticed. Ritsuka would have bled to death in that alley, and he, Soubi, would never have known. He'd have found out on the evening news with the rest of Tokyo. The thought was horrifying. _Ritsuka. You deserve so much better than this, a Fighter much better than me. Someone… whole. _

Just then, Soubi felt something odd. It was a little tug on the spell he had cast over the door to keep everyone out except people who needed to give Ritsuka medical attention. Someone was nudging it from the outside. Then he heard a voice calling to him through the weave of magic. He didn't get all the words, but the gist of it was, "Undo this damned thing or I'm gonna have the Colonel burn a hole through it!" _Edward. _Soubi unraveled the enchantment temporarily to allow Ed and Roy in.

As the two of them stepped through the door, Ed immediately rushed to the side of the bed and took Ritsuka's hand. "Is he okay? Did they say he's gonna be okay?"

Soubi nodded. "He's just sleeping."

"What the hell happened? That moron with the lollipop said his _mother_ was here, and she _attacked_ him. Is that _true??" _

Roy crossed the room and put his hand on Ed's shoulder. Soubi noticed that he was back in his military uniform, complete with his white gloves and newly-shined boots. "Edward. Give your half-brother a minute to breathe. He's had a rather trying day, _Son." _

Ed rolled his eyes. "Keep calling me that, _Dad, _and you're going to eat my metal fist."

"I take it you got into the hospital by posing as Ritsuka's father," Soubi guessed.

"Got it in one. They even bought it that Ed was his step-brother, and that I had been away on military duty and had no idea what had been going on in my absence."

"Heh. They must all be pretty stupid if they actually bought that _I'm_ related to _you," _Ed scoffed, but he was too focused on Ritsuka to really get into it with Roy. _Are you really okay? Please tell me you're okay... _

Roy paced the room once, glancing out the window, then switched directly into military mode. "As soon as Ritsuka is conscious, we should be able to make use of the same ruse to get him out of here. They want him to see their psychologist before he leaves, but I had them phone his regular therapist, so that should expedite the process. His mother has been committed, so she's out of the picture for now." 

He paused, coughed, then continued in the same style. "There are three guards on this floor, seven nurses and two roving doctors, one whom you've met and one other who will relieve his shift at 0600 hours. From this room there are two possible exits: one 50 paces to the left, right through the double doors, take the elevator down six flights to the lobby, then right one hundred paces to the front desk. This security desk is manned by two lightly armed guards who require patients and visitors to sign out, but that can easily be arranged or simulated. Alternately, if we are left with no other options, Edward could take Ritsuka out of this window by means of alchemy. If we really wanted to, we could get the hell out of here right now. But I would recommend waiting it out and dealing with the red tape. It will be better for Ritsuka in the long run."

Soubi glanced in Ed's direction, then turned back to Roy. "I see you've been putting those Sentouki combat strategies you read about to good use, Colonel Mustang."

Roy smirked, but it was Ed who answered. "Nah, this has nothing to do with those dusty books. He does this all the time back home. He has the entire army corps wrapped around his little finger; it's disgusting. People just listen to him when he talks. And if they don't, he yells at them until they do listen. He's the only person I know who can keep shouting at you for 15 minutes straight without breaking his stride or letting you get a word in edgewise. It's much less about his skills as a Fighter and much more about the fact that he's a royal bastard who wont take no for an answer."

"Are you quite finished, Fullmetal?"

"Actually, I'm just warming up," Ed retorted, but it was really only a half-hearted threat. The truth was that he was indebted to Roy for once again taking care of things - of him - so well. He continued to stroke Ritsuka's small hand thoughtfully.

"About the moron with the lollipop," Soubi cut in. "You didn't set him on fire, did you?"

"Well, not _technically…"_ Roy made his best attempt to look innocent, which made him resemble a blameless pit viper.

Ed snorted. "Put it this way: I think your friend Kio is going to need some debriefing," he explained. "Meanwhile, can we go over what happened, again?"


	11. Chapter 11

Edward lay with his head on Roy's chest, momentarily glad that they were posing as father and son so that he didn't have to be concerned about any looks he might be getting from the hospital staff. Not that he would have cared at this point. Everything that had transpired in the past 48 hours had taken its toll on him, and he was physically and mentally exhausted. He didn't even have any energy left to think about it anymore, he just wanted to go home… all the way home. Rizembul was so lovely at this time of year: the air was crisp and refreshing, the cherry blossoms just beginning to bloom… Ed found himself aching for it in a more than ever before. At this point, even a wrench in the head from Winry would feel welcoming, and that was a scary thought.

Grumbling, he readjusted himself on the uncomfortable couch for the 99th time. What the hell with Roy - the man could sleep like the dead during a full scale riot, it was disgusting! Ed had asked him about it once when he'd barged into his office unannounced and found him asleep at his desk on top of a pile of unfinished paperwork. Roy had replied that when you'd been in the military as long as he had, you learned to sleep absolutely anywhere and you took the chance whenever it came, and if you have a problem with that, Fullmetal, you can file a report, and by the way, yours is late.

_Chances to sleep come a lot less frequently when half of you is made of metal,_ Ed thought bitterly, but he knew that wasn't really it. He'd been known to sleep right on top of Al at times. It wasn't so much that he lacked the ability to sleep in strange and uncomfortable places, it was just that everywhere felt strange and uncomfortable to him at the moment. In fact he was lying on top of the person who made him feel the most normal and comfortable right now, and if that wasn't weird, he didn't know what was.

He just needed to know that Ritsuka was going to be all right. After that he could rest and recover and figure out what they were going to do next. Ritsuka had seemed so tiny and fragile in the hospital bed, even more so than usual, if that was possible. And Soubi had looked awful. He was trying to put up a good front, but Ed knew better. It was obvious that he was just barely holding it together. _What a terribly pathetic little troop we are. A fractured kid, his screwed-up boyfriend, a half-metal outcast who's trying to find his all-metal brother so he can stick his soul back into his body, and… Roy. Gods, if Roy is the most normal one out of all of us, we are_ so fucked…

Ed gave up and got off the couch, deciding he might as well take a walk. He sauntered over to the ridiculously complicated vending machines to see if maybe a miracle had happened and someone had actually restocked them with something edible in the last few hours. Maybe he could transmute one of the items on the sly…

Suddenly, Edward felt something very strange. It was a presence that was oddly familiar to him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. There was someone standing at the end of the short hallway, pulling two water bottles out of one of the machines. At first Ed thought it might be Ritsuka, since the figure had black hair and black cat ears. Yet that couldn't be; he was too tall, and besides, Ritsuka was lying unconscious in the ICU upstairs. Still, there was something about the way this person was standing that reminded Ed of Ritsuka, one hand resting awkwardly at his hip, one leg slightly bent, black tail swishing behind him.

The stranger shifted his head ever so slightly in Edward's direction, making no other move. The back of Ed's neck prickled, his body automatically moving into a defensive position. Ed couldn't see the stranger's eyes because of his long hair, but he could just make out his face. There was no doubt about it: the resemblance to Ritsuka was as plain as day. "Who are you?" Edward asked.

The older boy did not answer. He merely tilted his head, still staring intently at Edward, and then he slowly smiled. It was not a nice smile, yet it was one that Ed immediately recognized. He had been given that look on various occasions and he knew exactly what it meant: shall I kill you now, or wait for a more convenient time to kill you?

Apparently the stranger decided on the latter, because before Edward could say or do anything else, he disappeared down the stairs at the end of the corridor. For a split second, Ed considered following him, but he realized quickly that the most important thing he needed to do was to make sure Ritsuka was okay._Right now._

Edward ran. He leapt up the stairs and flew around the corner to the ICU, looking for Ritsuka's room. _Damn it, what the hell did Roy say, sixty paces, what was the room number… why didn't I listen to him more carefully?!_ Finally locating it, he raced in, calling out to Soubi, asking if everything was all right…

And then his heart stopped. The room was empty.


	12. Chapter 12

Edward stared at the empty bed. _Wait. This can't be right. I must have fucked up the 60 paces - maybe it was 50 paces - yeah, that was it, through the double doors, 50 paces, maybe this is wrong, maybe…_ He rushed back and forth, searching frantically in the rooms to the left and to the right, but he kept coming to the same conclusion: No Ritsuka. No Soubi. A nurse was passing; he stopped her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but could you tell me what happened to the patient in Room 305? Aoyagi Ritsuka? Was he moved?"

She looked momentarily confused. "Aoyagi Ritsuka? Oh, yes, he was the brother of the nice young man who complimented my hair, don't you know…" Blushing, she primped her graying locks. "He said he was taking his brother home."

"But he wasn't supposed to go home… not without a psych consultation, and certainly not until he regained consciousness?"

The nurse was clearly still thinking about her hair and did not answer. "Ma'am! Can you tell me one thing? What did the person who took him look like?"

"Why, he looked just like his little brother, of course! No one could argue that they were related, both with the same black hair and little black ears like that…"

Edward had heard enough. He raced back down the hall, heading for the stairs. _Roy. Where are you. I need you. ROY!_ He slid down the banister and was barreling off in the direction that the stranger had headed when it occurred to him that he had no idea which way he might have gone, or how he might have taken Ritsuka out of the hospital. Again he wished he'd listened more closely to Roy, or that he'd paid better attention to all those lectures about how a soldier was expected to be able to take stock of his immediate surroundings at a glance and be aware of all possible entrances and exits at all times. _Damnit, how the hell is he able to lecture me in my head when he's not even here??_

There was a small window in the stairwell near the third floor landing. Ed leapt up into it and was about to punch out the glass when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He immediately spun around, metal fist first, but Roy was well practiced at anticipating Ed's thrusts and he dodged. "Going somewhere, Fullmetal?"

"Roy!" Ed jumped down and latched desperately onto his Fighter. "He's gone! Ritsuka! And Soubi too! It's his brother! Ritsuka's dead brother! I saw him! He's kidnapped him! We've got to do something! RIGHT NOW!!"

"All right, all right, calm down. What is it you need me to do?"

"I… I…" Ed hesitated. Why was Roy asking him what he needed him to do? Why wasn't he just taking charge, like he always does? _Damn it, it's this Fighter/Sacrifice nonsense… We so don't need this right now!_ "I… I need you to…" _I need you to tell me what to do._ "We need to find him! Ritsuka!"

"All right. In order to find Ritsuka, I need more information, Edward. You need to tell me exactly what happened."

"I told you, his brother, he's here, he kidnapped him…!"

"Damn it, Fullmetal, are you telling me that after all this time you are still unable to give me a soldier's report when I ask for one? How many times have we been over this? When we get back to Central, I am not going to rest until I get daily reports from you, do you understand me? Every time you scratch your ass, I want a goddamned report! This is exactly what they get for treating you like the Golden Boy: no discipline! It's a disgrace, and I wont stand for it, do you hear me? You will report and you will report NOW!"

Edward was stunned into silence, a rare occurrence. He was so angry with Roy that he couldn't decide whether to hit him or order him into silence or tell him to go to hell or everything all at once. What incensed him the most was that Roy was doing exactly what he wanted him to do, taking charge of the situation… _But of course he would have to be a total fucking prick about it...! _ He punched the wall with his right fist in frustration, creating a rather sizable hole in it.

"Nice, Fullmetal. Why don't you throw a temper tantrum. That's definitely going to help Ritsuka."

"I hate you, do you know that?" Ed was seething, his fists opening and closing at his sides.

"Hate me all you want. Just report."

"Fine." Ed huffed and put his hand to his forehead. "I woke up and went to get a sandwich."

"Time?"

"Just a little while ago."

_"Military time??"_

"Damn it, I don't know, okay? About five minutes ago. I went down the hall to the machines, and I saw someone there. Dressed in black. Black hair, black ears and tail, about your height. He looked like Ritsuka – a lot like him. I asked him who he was. He didn't answer; he just smiled at me, real weird like, and I didn't… I didn't like the way he did it. There was something about him… Anyway, he disappeared down the stairs…"

"These stairs?"

"Yes. Then I went to check on Ritsuka, and he was gone."

"The room was empty? You searched it?"

"Well, the bed was empty, and I didn't see anyone…"

"That would be a negative. Anything else?"

Ed glared at him. "Yes. There was a nurse. I asked her if Ritsuka had been moved. She said his brother had checked him out of the hospital."

"Did you ask her when?"

"No. I assumed – "

"I don't need to hear your assumptions. Did she say anything else?"

_If he keeps this up, I'm going to hit him whether I need him or not. _"No – wait, yes, I asked her what the person looked like. She said he looked just like Ritsuka. So I know it wasn't Soubi who took him, unless he somehow disguised himself, but that wouldn't explain the person I saw…"

"I said I didn't need to hear speculation. Anything else?"

"No goddamn it, and will you quit it with the Colonel-Stick-Up-The-Ass routine? I've told you everything I know; now we need to find this asshole before he gets away with Ritsuka."

Roy paused for twenty, maybe thirty seconds. "Right. Front desk. They will have passed through security by now. We'll get more information there." He started immediately down the stairs.

Ed ran after him. "But… but how do we know they took Ritsuka out that way? Shouldn't we get outside as quickly as possible and start looking for them?"

"Yes, we should definitely alchemy ourselves out a window, announce our presence to the enemy in flying colors, and give them every opportunity to get themselves out of sight. By all means. Would you like me to set the hospital on fire, too? I'm in the mood."

"Look, Captain Sarcasm, you don't have to – "

Roy stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to face Edward. "That's _Colonel_ Sarcasm. I haven't been a Captain for quite some time. Now listen to me: we are about to exit onto the main floor. It is imperative that we keep a low profile until we find out exactly what's going on. Stay incognito and keep your eyes open. And Edward?"

"Yes, Sir?" Ed rolled his eyes.

"Trust me?"

Sighing, Edward nodded.

* * *

Ed stamped his foot impatiently as they rode the elevator to the 6th floor. He hated feeling like this. Ritsuka was somewhere nearby, in serious trouble, and he needed to do something about it _now._ Precious minutes were slipping by – whoever took Ritsuka could be halfway across the city by now – but Roy had insisted on going back upstairs and doing a thorough search of the room before they left the hospital.

Ed did in fact trust Roy: he had witnessed his calm, military, information-gathering strategy time and time again. It almost always proved effective, but it drove him batty nevertheless. _How does he manage to stay so composed in these situations? To look at him, you'd think he was taking a stroll through the park. It's maddening._

Roy had gone right up to the security desk and started his interrogation. They had found out that someone going by the name of Aoyagi Seimei with black hair and ears had in fact checked his brother out of the hospital 20 minutes ago, though they had no information as to where he had gone after that. Questioning the few bystanders outside had proved fruitless. No one had seen them. No one knew where they might have gone. No one, including the security guards, had seen the older brother come back into the building after the two had left, nor had they seen him leaving a second time. Roy had questioned them very specifically about this.

"Why were you asking them whether he left and came back?" Ed had wanted to know. "I don't get it. Couldn't he have just gotten the water from the vending machine on the way out?"

"Pay attention, Fullmetal. The man said he had checked out 20 minutes ago. That's 0400. You told me you saw him at approximately 0410. That's after he checked out. The water was completely irrelevant. He came back to tag you. That's the only explanation."

"What? _Me?_ Why? What the hell does this have to do with me?"

"I don't know, Edward, but that's what he did. And he obviously didn't want anyone else to know about it."

Ed had been able tell by Roy's tone of voice that this fact deeply disturbed him. He was still wondering about it as they got out on the 6th floor and proceeded to the ICU._How the hell could this have anything to do with me? How does that creepy bastard even know who I am? _

Room 305 was, by all appearances, still very empty. "See, I told you…" Ed began.

"Nevertheless, I want you to check everywhere, Edward. In the corners, under the– "

Ed, who had in fact been looking under the bed, suddenly let out a terrible scream. Roy came rushing over, white-faced. There underneath, crouched close to the wall, lay Agatsuma Soubi, trembling and covered in blood.

Ed had to clamp his hands over his mouth to keep himself from screaming again. He turned around and clung desperately to Roy, trying to block the image he had just seen out of his head. Seeing things like that always brought back… memories that he would rather not recall. Roy held him tightly to his chest. He was shaking like a leaf.

Nurses poked their heads in to investigate; was everyone all right? Roy spoke to them softly, in tones he unknowingly borrowed from Soubi. Everything was fine. His son was distraught. You would please forgive the disturbance. They disappeared.

Roy pulled away from Ed long enough to bend down and make sure Soubi was not in need of immediate medical attention. Although there was a lot of blood, Roy did not detect any other signs of serious injury, though it was hard to tell as Soubi would not come out from under the bed, nor answer when called.

Standing, Roy took Ed firmly by the shoulders and looked him directly in the eye. "Edward. Let me handle this, all right? You go. Just go. Retrace your steps. See if you can find anything." Ed nodded slowly, looking away. "Whatever you do, I want you on recon only, do you understand me? Do not – I repeat – DO NOT, under any circumstances, engage with the enemy, is that clear?"

Edward's head snapped up. "After _this_ you are telling me _not_ to engage? Are you fucking kidding me? I'm going to kill that bastard. I'm going to kill him right now. And since when do _you_ give _me_ orders?"

Ed was about to continue in the same vein when he saw the look on Roy's face and stopped. The angry Colonel mask was gone and suddenly a lifetime's worth of pain was visible, etched into his features like deep scratches cut into glass. "Edward. _Don't make me lose two of you."_

_He's not talking about Ritsuka anymore._ Edward closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'll… just go."

Roy suddenly pulled him close, kissing the top of his head. "Please be careful. Call me and I will come immediately."

Ed nodded and closed the door on his way out. Roy sighed, got down on the floor, and tried to prepare himself for the bleak task that lay ahead of him.


	13. Chapter 13

Roy Mustang was wondering when it had happened, exactly. He'd spent half his life listening to crusty old generals tell long-winded war stories. These were men who had seen everything: no matter what your current crisis was, they had been there, done that, with fewer men, half the ammunition and twice as much chutzpa. While the other young enlisted men had rolled their eyes and walked away, chuckling to themselves, Roy had stayed and listened. What he had observed first and foremost among those garrulous officers was not so much that they felt the need to constantly recount their finest exploits in order to gratify their egos - although it was partly that, of course – but more significantly, it was that their wartime experience had become the barometer against which everything else in their lives was measured. It was as if the war had carved permanent notches deep within them, forever altering their judgment of every subsequent situation. Everything fit neatly into two categories: "not as bad as during the war" or "almost as bad as during the war".

Roy had caught himself thinking exactly that as he sat down on the cold floor next to the barely cognizant form of Agatsuma Soubi: _this is almost as bad as it was in Ishbal._ He would have chuckled to himself had the situation not been so grim. _I can't believe it: I've become one of those old bastards. I never thought it would happen. _

Yet he couldn't help but compare his current state of affairs to his experiences during the war: there were too many similarities. Back then, nearly every night was spent in the same way: you were talking somebody down or someone else was talking you down. It was either that, or you were out doing something that would require you to be talked down the following night. Life was suddenly starting to feel disturbingly parallel to that reality. And the thing of it was, back then, as bad as things were, at least he'd never had to face it alone. _Goddamnit, Maes, where the hell are you? You were always so much better at this than I was. _

Roy sighed and reached out to touch Soubi's leg gently. "Agatsuma-san." No response. "Soubi-san." Nothing. Roy thought for a moment. "Soubi-kun..."

That did it: Soubi jerked violently away from him, clinging to the metal bars under the bed, trying to get as far away as possible. _He's not really here at all. It's not me he's seeing. He's in another place and time entirely. _

Roy continued. "Soubi-kun, did I frighten you?"

Soubi answered in a small, ragged voice that was nearly unrecognizable: _"Hai, Sensei."_

_Yikes. Not good. _"I'm sorry, Soubi-kun, I didn't mean to scare you. Listen to me, okay? I'm not asking you to come out of there. You can stay as long as you like. I'd just like to play a little game with you. Will you play with me?"

Roy was watching Soubi intently for signs of the slightest reaction. He was coiled up like a wounded animal, his long limbs twisted painfully around themselves. Crimson streaks of dark blood marred his soft blue shirt.

"I would like you to tell me five things that you can see. Can you do that for me, Soubi-kun? Tell me what you see."

Soubi was quiet for so long that Roy thought he was going to have to give up and try a different tack, when he heard an answer almost too faint to perceive: "I see… butterflies."

"Butterflies. Good. That's one. What else do you see?"

Roy had a suspicion that Soubi's nose was broken, as his voice was muted more than one might expect from crying or trauma, and that would explain the profusion of blood. He hoped that was all that was broken. _What had that crazy bastard done to him?_

"Blood… my wrists. They're bleeding."

_Uh oh…_ "Your wrists are bleeding? I'm sorry. May I see them?"

Soubi twisted himself around, but he would not remove his hands from the bed. "I can't. They're shackled."  
_  
Shackled? What the hell had happened to this kid? And I thought the little one was bad. No wonder he's no help to his Sacrifice. He's barely keeping the demons at bay himself. _

"Soubi-kun, listen to me. I have a key in my hand. I'm going to give it to you. Then you can take the shackles off. Okay?"

Lying down on the floor, Roy reached carefully under the bed, gently touching Soubi's closest hand, then immediately pulled himself back out so as not to frighten him any further. In so doing, Roy was able to see clearly that there were no wounds on his wrists, and for that he breathed a sigh of relief. _We've had one too many suicide attempts already in the past 48 hours._

"There, is that better? You've done a good job telling me what you can see. Now can you tell me five things you can feel? What are your hands touching? Can you describe it to me?"

Roy knew that if he could get Soubi to utilize all of his senses in the present time, it was possible that he could bring him back from wherever it was he had gone. He had watched Hughes apply this technique countless times back in Ishbal. And then there were also those times that he had… experienced it first hand. _Roy! Goddamn it, Mustang, look at me! Put this in your hand and feel it. Describe it to me. It's your own goddamned State Alchemist watch. Don't tell me you don't fucking know what it is! You're here with me, Roy, standing right in front of me. Snap out of it! Come back to me! _Roy shook his head, dispelling memories that would only make him ache.

"Metal. My hands are touching metal."

"Good! Good. What does the metal feel like?"

"It feels… rough."

Roy could see Soubi moving his hands up and down the metal bars. _Come back to me, Agatsuma Soubi, you're almost free of it._ Pulling himself slightly closer, Roy carried on, speaking slowly and clearly.

"Excellent. What else can you feel?"

"Pain. My face… it hurts."

"Yes, I'm afraid your nose is broken, but it will heal. Can you smell anything?"

"I smell… blood."

"Good. And taste?"

"I taste blood, too."

"Right. What about hearing? Can you hear anything?"

Soubi paused. "I hear… my heart beating. Quickly."

"All right. Anything else?"

It occurred to Roy that there wasn't very much to hear just then, so not knowing what else to do, he began to sing softly.  
_  
Fading light  
Dims the sight  
And a star  
Gems the sky,  
Gleaming bright  
From afar,  
Drawing nigh,  
Falls the night.  
_  
He stopped. The memory of the last time he had heard that song had flashed through his mind: Hughes' funeral. Roy put his forehead to the cold floor and sighed. _This isn't going to work, Maes. I'll never be you. I should just stop trying._

"Please… don't stop. Roy."

Roy turned his head. Soubi was lying on his side, his injured face smearing the floor with blood. He'd taken his hands down and was reaching one tentatively out towards him. "I woke up in pain, covered in blood, and Roy Mustang was singing to me. It was exquisite. Please don't stop."

Roy took his hand and squeezed it.  
_  
Thanks and praise,  
For our days,  
Neath the sun,  
Neath the stars,  
Neath the sky,  
As we go,  
This we know,  
God is nigh._

* * *

**_Author's note:_** Lyrics are from _Taps (traditional)._


	14. Chapter 14

Ritsuka opened his eyes

He was lying on a small bed in a quiet room full of sunlight. A light breeze was blowing in through an open window. Birds could be heard twittering outside. He blinked several times, disoriented, feeling a bit woozy.

Though he was sure he had never been in this room before, there was something about the way the wind played about his face, gently blowing back his hair, that stirred something within him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the feeling of déjà vu would not leave him.

As he shifted his position, he noticed that his hand was bandaged, and he immediately recalled the events of… was it the night before? How had he arrived in this place? He thought hard. The last thing he remembered was… Soubi's arms around him. He had been running and running, lost in his troubles, and he'd fallen down in that alleyway, and then Soubi was there, holding him, and… He didn't remember anything after that. Where was Soubi now? Where was Ritsuka himself?

Crawling out of bed, he made his way to the door and stepped out into the hall. Thick carpeting embraced his bare feet as he padded towards the small bathroom, the location coming to him almost intuitively. He was puzzled about the oddness of this place, how it was both familiar and unfamiliar to him at the same time.

When he came out of the bathroom, he heard a noise coming from the direction that he had a feeling was the kitchen. _Soubi?_ he thought hopefully, hurrying down the hall.

But it wasn't Soubi.

There, sitting at the kitchen table, quietly sipping green tea, dressed in black from head to foot, was his dead brother, Seimei.

Ritsuka stared. _This can't be right. I must be dreaming. They must have given me some strong drugs at the hospital. This is an illusion._

"Good morning, Ritsuka."

_"S-Seimei??"_

"Tea?" The man in black gestured towards a steaming cup and an empty seat beside him.

"Is it… is it really _you?_"

The figure at the table slowly smiled. Ritsuka took a hesitant step forward. _Get a hold of yourself. Deep breaths. This isn't real. It's just another one of your crazy dreams. Or it's some trick. Seimei can't be alive. If he was alive, he would have come, he would have come to me, he would have told me, he would have…_

But it wasn't working. There, right in front of him, was his brother, his only brother, the one for whom he had prayed and prayed, night after night, huddled in his little bed, shaking and crying and railing against the world, begging desperately that he would somehow miraculously return to him. Against his will, silent hopes were rising in his chest. _My brother, alive, Seimei, in the flesh, could it be…?_

Something frightening was happening inside Ritsuka's mind. As he gaped at his brother – his _dead_ brother – thoughts and memories began flooding his brain, an enormous cascade exploding in front of his eyes like a brilliant fireworks display. _Seimei. His brother. Christmas time. Presents. A toy rocket. His mother, happy, smiling, loving. His father, quiet, strong, his arm around Seimei. This house. Surrounded by trees. A lake. Ritsuka and Seimei, swimming, playing together, laughing. Seimei holding Ritsuka's hand on his first day of school, so excited for him, so happy…_

Ritsuka staggered. _What… was this?_ Darker memories were coming to him now; he saw his father being dragged off somewhere, his mother screaming, Seimei was nowhere to be found, and there were the dark corridors; he was running, running, passing strange people he didn't know, strange acts being performed behind closed doors. He shook his head, trying to regain his senses, but nothing would stop the terrifying images from coming.

The man in black stood, still smiling, and moved towards the younger boy. Ritsuka took a step back, still cautious, not sure what was going on, not sure what to believe. The living man who looked exactly like his brother stopped in front of him, knelt down, and opened his arms.

_Seimei. When you left, I thought my life was over. Could it be that I'm being offered a second chance? _

Something snapped in Ritsuka. He couldn't help it: he rushed into Seimei's arms. He didn't care anymore whether this was real, or imagined, or some delusional dream. It didn't matter. Even if it was a hallucination, he could feel his brother's arms around him, and that was all that mattered. _Seimei! You have no idea how much I've missed you. Your absence has been an endless ache in my heart. Please don't leave me again. Please. _His little body shook with sobs. Everything he'd been through, all of the terrible pain in his short life seemed to rise to the surface just then, begging to be healed. An image of himself and Seimei hand in hand on his first day of school flashed into his mind, his big brother beaming with pride, holding him protectively, Ritsuka feeling like he could conquer the world. _If only it could stay like this; if only we could remain like this, forever…_

He was startled out of his reverie by a sharp prick in his upper arm. Pulling away, he noticed something in Seimei's hand: a hypodermic needle. The man in black was still smiling. "Sleep now, Ritsuka. Forget about the pain."

"S-Seimei?" Ritsuka was trying hard to figure out what was happening to him, but whatever drug had just been injected into his system had already begun to take effect. His mind was starting to get hazy, and the memories were beginning to fade. One thought forced its way through the murkiness: _Soubi. Where are you. I need you. _

Then there was darkness.


	15. Chapter 15

_Ritsuka!_

Roy had to hold Soubi down physically to stop him. He had suddenly tried to leap out of bed with no warning, broken nose and overall bad shape notwithstanding. "Edward! Come help me, damn it!"

Ed came running in, quickly surveyed the scene, and was soon sitting on Soubi's torso restraining him, his metal hand pressed to his bare chest. He threw a sharp glance at Roy. "What the hell?" His attention was immediately directed back to Soubi, however. "Hey! Don't you try that Fighter voodoo shit on me! It wont work: I'm an alchemist, not some brainless idiot you can mindfuck like that! Roy, make him stop!"

Roy put himself bodily in between Ed and Soubi, trying to block the psychic attack. "SOUBI. Listen to me. We are trying to help you. You are going to hurt yourself. Please _stop_."

Soubi would have none of it, however. He latched onto Ed's right arm with both hands, eyes flashing like some kind of crazed demon. Edward let out a terrible cry and came crashing down to the floor. Meanwhile Soubi shoved Roy hard, jumped off the bed, then proceeded to exit the apartment immediately via the sliding glass door of the bedroom.

Roy put his head in his hands. _What the fuck was that?_ He did not have much time for contemplation, however, because Edward suddenly let out another horrible scream. _How is it that he's still being attacked…?_

He rushed over to where Ed lay sprawled out on the floor, twitching like an epileptic, clutching his right arm with an extremely panicked look splayed across his features. There was a funny smell in the air that Roy recognized with horror as the acrid scent of burning flesh. "Fullmetal!" Not knowing what else to do, Roy climbed on top of him and put both his hands on his shoulders, trying to stop him from jerking around. He immediately had to retract his hand from Ed's right shoulder as a jolt of electricity shot through him like lightning. _Son of a bitch…!_

Roy didn't give up: he tackled Ed to the ground, throwing his entire body weight on top of him. Violent shocks wracked his body, but he forced himself to maintain contact. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried desperately to focus. _Electrical current is just fire in another form. Fire must obey me. Fire_ must _obey me…_ Images of the mechanics and circuitry inside Edward's automail flashed into his mind as he willed the electrical current running haywire through it to flow _down and out._ Wrapping his leg around the metal bedpost, he steeled himself to pull the electrical energy from Edward's body like a magnet, run it through his own, and then direct it _out._

The effort completely exhausted him, and he lay panting on top of his Sacrifice for several seconds. He was immensely relieved to feel Edward moving underneath him, mumbling, "Get. the. fuck. off. me. you. bastard."

Roy pulled himself up gingerly, wincing. He looked over at Ed, still lying prone on the floor. "Hit me, will you?"

"What?"

"Right now, with your metal fist. Come on, I'm giving you the shot of a lifetime, here."

"...what the fuck… are you saying? I can hit you any time I… damn well… please…" Bemused, Ed swung his right arm in Roy's direction. He immediately regretted it, however, as he became acutely aware of the nasty burns and blisters surrounding his automail port. "You prick. You did that just to cause me pain."

Roy smiled grimly. _No, I did it to make sure your nerves were still connected._ He had been seriously worried that he'd removed the electrical impulses from the automail entirely. "Why don't you try kicking me, while you're at it."

Ed had wised up by that time and kicked out with his right leg instead, but he found that he didn't have much energy even for that. Roy grabbed it and pulled. "Ow, you bastard, quit it!" It worked; the other leg came up, and he noticed Ed wincing again, but the injury didn't seem as bad as the one on his arm. Roy breathed a sigh of relief. _At least both of his limbs are still working._

"Mind telling me what the fuck just happened?" Ed growled, sitting up slowly.

"You got zapped. Apparently it's some kind of Fighter offensive technique I wasn't aware of." Roy scooted over and started taking off Ed's shirt to check the damage.

"I meant why did Pretty Boy just go fucking psycho on us? _Ow!_ What the fuck are you doing, that hurts!"

"Quit whining, Fullmetal!"

"I will not! First you're jumping on top of me, now you're undressing me… What do you think this is, some kind of porno flick?"

"I have to get this off of you so we can dress your wounds properly. It's standard military protocol."

"Fuck standard military _fucking_ protocol - _OUCH!!"_

Roy had finally managed to get Ed's shirt all the way off. Angry red sores were blistering all around the area where metal joined flesh. It looked excruciatingly painful. "Edward…"

"WHAT?"

"Just... sit there, okay? I'm going to get the first aid kit."

"You didn't answer my question!" Ed yelled after him. "What the hell is going on with Soubi? You didn't even tell me what happened last night after we got home; we just went to bed! Quit leaving me in the dark, goddamnit!"

Roy returned quickly with the first aid kit, a bowl of lukewarm water and some towels. _He's putting up a good front, but I know that's gotta hurt like hell. _ Roy sat down carefully next to Edward, dipping a soft washcloth into the wooden bowl.

"I will tell you what I know. I don't think Soubi is always aware of his immediate surroundings. He has flashbacks that are pretty severe. Who knows who he thought we were or what he thought we were trying to do to him." Roy paused. "Edward. This is going to hurt. Hold onto me."

Ed braced himself against Roy with his left arm, squeezing his eyes shut. As Roy applied the wet cloth to the burn, Ed cried out and gripped him tightly. _"Fuck!"_ he growled through gritted teeth.

"It's all right. Just breathe." Roy pressed as gently as he could against the wounds, but he knew it was the cooling of the burn that hurt the most, not the pressure. Ed was crushing his forehead tightly to Roy's chest, quietly hyperventilating, clutching his upper arm like a sharp-taloned hawk.

"I'm going to have to ask you to lift your right arm. It might be better if we removed it until…"

Edward's head shot up. _"NO!"_ Eyes smoldering like hot coals glared at Roy.

"Okay, okay, bad idea, forget I said anything. Just lift your arm, all right? Here, prop it up on my shoulder…" He should have known: all the automail veterans Roy was acquainted with were extremely sensitive about their prosthetic limbs. They didn't even like anyone touching them apart from their automail engineers, much less someone trying to remove them for any reason. Roy knew Ed's right arm had been lost or severely damaged in battle on numerous occasions and that he felt extremely vulnerable without it.

_Still, it'd be a lot easier to bandage it that way._ It had been an ongoing concern of Roy's since they had gotten stuck here, what they would do if something went wrong with Ed's automail. He sure as hell didn't know anything about fixing it, and he doubted there was anyone in this world who did, even if they were able to risk telling someone about it. _Just another reason why we need to find a way to get the hell out of this godforsaken place, the sooner the better._

Unwinding strips of gauze, Roy began to wrap up Ed's shoulder as best he could. "Edward, I need you to let me know if this is healing properly. Don't lie to me and pretend it's okay. Electrical shock often causes more internal injuries than external. If something goes wrong with this arm…"

"I get it, okay? I've been a gimp most of my life, I know how fucking serious it is."

"Ed…"

"Forget it. You didn't finish telling me about Post Traumatic Pretty Boy. Did he tell you anything last night about what happened to Ritsuka?"

The casual way Ed threw out that insult rankled Roy more than a little, but as Ed had serious reasons to be pissed at Soubi at the moment, he let it slide. "As far as I could gather from him – he was still somewhat incoherent, and not everything he said entirely made sense to me – this man in black showed up and demanded that Soubi hand Ritsuka over. When Soubi refused – which I am to understand was a really big deal – the guy hit him and took Ritsuka anyway."

"Wait, what? What do you mean, a big deal? Why wouldn't he refuse? Are you telling me that Soubi went down in one punch? Why didn't he fight harder? He just fucking fried the shit out of me for disturbing his goddamned beauty sleep!"

"Well, think about it like this," Roy continued, tying up the bandages as gently as he could. "If Alphonse had shown up and demanded that I surrender you, he probably could've taken me out with one sucker punch. I certainly wouldn't have been expecting it."

"Al could take you out with one punch anyway."

"Not if I dodged."

"No way. I can't even dodge Al. You wouldn't have a chance in hell, old man."

"_Anyway,_ we are obviously missing some information here, but if I were to speculate, I'd say that Soubi must have had a close relationship with Ritsuka's older brother."

"What, they were fucking?"

"Someone has their mind in the gutter today, hmm? No, I was thinking more that they were Fighter and Sacrifice."

"What?? Soubi had a different Sacrifice? But I thought if you were made into a Fighter-Sacrifice pair it was like, one partner for life, forever and always?"

"How touching, Edward. I had no idea you felt that way. I think you might make me blush."

"Goddamnit, not _us_, you asshole! I meant for _them_. I thought they were life-bonded, Ritsuka and Soubi."

"Apparently not. Soubi told me once that they do not share the same name, but he didn't elaborate. The way he was talking about Seimei last night… it was in that same devoted-slave voice he usually reserves for Ritsuka. I think they might have been paired before he died, and then he ended up with Ritsuka, somehow, maybe because they were brothers."

"Wasn't there anything about this shit in those books that I ordered you to read?"

"No, that's what's strange. The books all seem to indicate that partners are life-bonded, just like you said. I don't know what to make of it."

Ed put his left hand to his forehead. "Great. So now what?" Roy was silent. "What? What are you thinking?"

"I'm trying to think about how to get you to take off your pants without you ordering me to go fuck myself, in which case you will probably sabotage yourself, ignore the problem, and get gangrene. Then I'll have to drag your one-legged ass back to Amestris and we'll both get hit in the head with a wrench trying to explain to Winry how it was that neither one of us managed to take proper care of your automail."

"Damn it, you really are a royal pain in my ass, do you know that?"

Roy smirked. "Just lose the pants."


	16. Chapter 16

Fear was riding Agatsuma Soubi like a wild horse. Its venomous poison coursed through his veins, and despite everything he was trying to do to keep hold of the tenuous thread of sanity that was left to him, it was fraying in his desperate hands. One solitary thought kept him from throwing himself to the ground and collapsing into his own beckoning nightmares: _Ritsuka. Must get to Ritsuka._

Soubi was seriously having trouble distinguishing reality from the never-ending array of ominous delusions that haunted him as he rushed towards his Sacrifice. He tried to concentrate on what he knew were solid facts. Someone had kidnapped Ritsuka. Someone, some real, living person, had knocked him out in the hospital. Ritsuka had called to him. That meant Ritsuka was alive. Now all he had to do was get to him.

_And yet, it wasn't going to be that simple._ First, he could only just barely detect Ritsuka's presence, which meant he was likely unconscious. Again. Ritsuka was also very far away. This knowledge did not exactly fill Soubi with confidence, nor do much to allay his mounting fear. Second, no matter how he tried to deny it or explain it away, what he had seen and experienced at the hospital had scared him worse than anything else. _Seimei. Alive. I refuse to accept it. I don't even know who I am anymore…_

He had been just lying there in the hospital, Ritsuka cradled in his arms, exhaustion having taken over, his eyes half lidded. It had happened like something out of a nightmare: suddenly, Aoyagi Seimei was standing over him.

* * *

_Seimei._ Soubi blinked, then blinked again. _This can't be real._

"I've come for Ritsuka."

His deep voice, the casual way he stood there, the way his lip was curled into that half smile… It was exactly, _exactly_ like Seimei. _But Seimei is dead._

Soubi automatically pulled his Sacrifice closer to him. _No. This is a nightmare. No. I refuse to believe this is real._

_"No…"_

The man's face darkened. Soubi knew that look. It was the ominous glare that preceded violence. The man that would be Seimei brought his face within inches of Soubi's. "You. dare. refuse. me."

Soubi couldn't help it; he panicked. Years of obeying Seimei's every wish and whim under the threat of brutality had been driven into him like a wooden stake. Fear gripped him, its cruel talons cutting deep into his crawling skin. He couldn't breathe. No matter what his mind told him, his entire physiology insisted: _this person must be obeyed without question._

"Give him to me."

A battle was going on inside Agatsuma Soubi that he could not win. His entire being was dedicated to protecting and obeying his Sacrifice. That was the reason for his existence. The only reason. Without that, he was nothing, nothing at all. _But both of these people are my Sacrifices._

No, _Ritsuka_ was his Sacrifice. _Ritsuka._ Seimei was dead. It was not possible that Seimei was alive. _Not possible._

His Fighter senses told him otherwise, however. This was no illusion: that man, whoever he was, Seimei's twin, was definitely standing there, smiling cruelly at him, looking very, very corporeal. Soubi shook his head, trying to clear it. _If this is truly Seimei, I have no choice but to obey him._ Yet even as that thought occurred to him, his arms tightened protectively around Ritsuka. _No._

A feeling started rising in Soubi that was entirely foreign to him, one that he found absolutely horrifying. There was a part of him, a new and raw and untried part, that didn't care who was whose Sacrifice. The truth was that he would protect Ritsuka with his life no matter who the hell that man in black standing in front of him was. He would protect Ritsuka, not because he was programmed to protect his Sacrifice, but because… because he loved him. Not because Seimei ordered him to love Ritsuka, not because he needed to forge a bond of love between the two of them in order for them to function as a Fighter-Sacrifice pair, but because Ritsuka was the person he cared about most in the world, and that was the end of it.

The aftermath of that realization shook him straight to the core. He simply sat there, blinking. _Could it be? Could I really be free of these chains?_

Soubi looked straight into the eyes of the man claiming to be his ex-Sacrifice. "I watched Aoyagi Seimei _die_."

The man in black struck like a cobra, lightning-fast and vicious. He grabbed Soubi by the hair and slammed the back of his head savagely into the wall. "No. You saw what I wanted you to see. Your eyes belong to me. I decide everything you see, everything you hear, everything you taste, everything you feel. I am your everything. You are nothing without me."

_You are nothing._

His hand tightened around Soubi's hair, fisting it viciously. "What do you say?" Soubi only stared at him with watering eyes, squeezing Ritsuka tighter. He smashed Soubi's head into the wall again with a sickening crack. _"Answer me!"_

"Yes, Master."

"Let go of him."

"Yes, Master."

_I am nothing. I exist only to obey. I must obey. I must…_ But his arms would not comply. Fighting through blinding pain and nearly crippling fear, he clung to Ritsuka and refused to relinquish him.

_"I said let go of him!"_

Soubi struggled to remain conscious as his head was once more battered against the wall behind him, but it was a losing battle. He attempted to summon his Fighter's abilities, but the repeated blows had disoriented him. He felt himself wrenched out from under Ritsuka, his Sacrifice's little fingers slipping out of his frantically clutching hands. Then he was slammed straight into the wall face first and knew no more.

* * *

That is, until Roy's singing had brought him back. _And now I've lost the only allies I had._

Soubi sighed. He didn't even want to know what he'd done to Ed and Roy on his way out the door. It had all happened in a blinding flash of light: he had heard Ritsuka's call, and then he was being restrained, and he hated, he _hated_ being restrained… He'd fought against it for all he was worth, and he imagined he'd now ruined any chance of them helping him get Ritsuka back. And Kio wasn't talking to him, either. _Alone again. As always._

But he hadn't had any choice. He had to get to Ritsuka. Ritsuka was in danger, and he needed to reach him _now._ The question of how exactly he was going to help him when he got there was not something he needed to think about right now. _Ritsuka. Must get to Ritsuka. The one I must obey. The one I… love._


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note: **Yes, I know it's been a thousand years; I went back to school, so RL ate me. Still write fanfic though, when I have time, so keep the faith.

* * *

As he followed the trail out of the city and into the forest, Soubi suddenly realized that he knew exactly where he was going. It hit him like a sharp slap in the face. _That house in the woods. The Aoyagi residence. What if it really _was_ Seimei at the hospital…?_

Before the Aoyagi family was torn apart by the intrusion of Septimal Moon, they had lived in a small house in the woods outside of the city. Soubi knew about it because he had followed Seimei home a number of times, though for the most part Seimei had sought to keep his family life private. As far as Soubi could tell, they had been a relatively normal household, on the outside, anyway. All too soon, however, dormant seeds of unease and disquiet bloomed into dark flowers of strife and discord, and the once-happy family was dissolved into a sea of dysfunction, never to be whole again.

Despite the dire circumstances, Soubi smiled to himself. That house also happened to be the place where he had seen Ritsuka for the very first time. A second dark-haired child, shorter than Seimei by half, had been sitting quietly in the fenced backyard by himself. His cat-eared head was bent forward in concentration, pine needles carefully sifting through small hands. Bringing a handful close to his face, he inhaled their pungent scent, letting them fall slowly into his lap. Soubi watched him in fascination, desiring to come closer, but fearing Seimei's wrath should he find him there. Suddenly, the pensive boy lifted his head, and deep violet eyes met his. Soubi froze, knowing that he should break away immediately, but there was something about those fathomless dark eyes that held him there, motionless. A noise from the house caused the boy to look away - Seimei returning, no doubt. Soubi took advantage of the opportunity and disappeared into the woods. He had never forgotten that moment, however, and when Ritsuka had looked up at him with those same dark eyes on that first day after school, Soubi had felt for once in his life as if fortune were smiling upon him.

_And so it began. _Recalling that moment gave him the strength he needed to continue on, as stinging drops of rain began to pelt his face. He knew the house was not far from here, not far at all. _That house. Seimei. Could it be…?_

He approached the dwelling cautiously as it loomed, white and ominous looking, in the distance. Despite his urgency, he was uncertain. What would he find inside? Where was Ritsuka, exactly? For a split second he regretted his rash departure and wished he had elicited the help of his companions, but that was foolishness. What did they know of the delicacy of this situation? No, Soubi had to handle this on his own. He alone could protect Ritsuka, and there was nothing he could do but face whatever it was that awaited him inside that house. He took a deep breath and steeled himself, moving around towards the back door, trying to pinpoint Ritsuka's location.

A sound startled him: the flick of a lighter, the aromatic smell of tobacco. Standing under the overhang of the back door casually smoking a cigarette was the last person on Earth he was expecting to see: his former teacher. _Ritsu-sensei…! What the hell is going on here…?_

"You're late, Soubi-kun. And where are your alchemist friends? I thought for sure you'd bring them with you. Tsk, tsk. Disappointing." He sighed, switching the cigarette from his left hand to his right. "Making things much harder on yourself, as usual."

Soubi stood there, feeling the raindrops battering his skull, completely at a loss. _Ritsu-sensei. Here. With Ritsuka. And the man in black. Why…?_

"Where is Ritsuka?"

"Inside. With his brother. Where he belongs."

"Seimei is dead. That man in black cannot be Seimei."

"Really." His bored, monotone voice grated on Soubi, as it always did. The way he toyed with people, creating or destroying lives at a whim, all with that same nonchalant tone of voice: it was infuriating. Soubi took a breath, trying not to let himself get riled up. _Ritsuka. Think of Ritsuka. Keep him talking. Find Ritsuka._

"How do you know about Roy and Edward? That they are alchemists?"

Ritsu sighed again, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose with one finger. "You constantly underestimate me, Soubi-kun. It's one of your biggest failings, you know. I created you. I made you what you are. You'd think you would at least give me the respect I deserve."

"I'm not your student anymore. I'm nothing to you." Soubi would not be deterred. "How do you know who they are?"

"The younger one has the Blood of the Father. Is that not obvious to you?"

"How is that possible?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

_The Blood of the Father. Edward. _Soubi had noticed something different about Ed, certainly, but it didn't even occur to him that he could be… "They are from another world. They aren't even a real Fighter/Sacrifice pair; they just got randomly thrown into our system. There is no way they can be related to us."

"Are you sure about that, Soubi-kun?"

Soubi put his hand on his head. He was done. "Look, what does this have to do with anything? I need to go retrieve my Sacrifice. If you would excuse me."

Ritsu looked for a moment as if he would try to stop him, but he moved out of the way and allowed him to pass through the door. Soubi proceeded straight down the hall, around the corner and into the bedroom, where he stopped abruptly in his tracks.

There was his Sacrifice, lying unconscious on the bed _on top of the man in black._ The man had his arms wrapped around Ritsuka's neck, and he was smiling that vicious smile. "So nice to see you again so soon." He was the very picture of politeness laced with arsenic.

Soubi's blood boiled. He immediately moved to come closer, but the man in black moved too: he adjusted his left hand ever so slightly, so that it was wrapped neatly around Ritsuka's throat. Soubi froze. "Hmm, better not get too close. Could be a bit of a dangerous situation."

_This is too much. It's too much…_ Soubi bit his tongue till he tasted blood. "What do you want."

Ritsu had come into the room behind him, silently. "I believe I already told you, Soubi-kun._ We want the one who has the Blood of the Father. _I suggest you bring him here."

Soubi stood there, trying to remember how to breathe. _We want the one who has the Blood of the Father. _So all of this was about… Edward? His brain wasn't functioning properly. _Ritsuka._ He was right there in front of him, _right there. I could just grab him and run, what could they do? But if he's serious, if he'd seriously hurt him, if it's not really Seimei, or if it _is _really him..._

His heart was pounding in his throat. What he really wanted to do was to beg Ritsu-sensei to just let Soubi touch Ritsuka, just hold him for five seconds, _just let me be with him…_ He shook his head, trying to clear it. Soubi knew his teacher had a vicious and cruel streak that could be activated for absolutely no reason whatsoever. He wouldn't hesitate to hurt Ritsuka right now just to prove that he was serious. Soubi didn't have a choice. He had to go. Even if it nearly killed him. He balled his hands into fists at his sides.

"If I bring him back here… will you let Ritsuka go?"

"It's possible," Ritsu said in that maddeningly calm tone.

"Don't hurt him." Soubi couldn't help but say it, even though he knew it was a useless plea.

"You're cute when you're angry," Ritsu answered, lighting another cigarette. "Come back soon."

With a last heartwrenching glance at his captive Sacrifice, Soubi bolted out the door at full speed.


	18. Chapter 18

Edward Elric felt like shit. True, there had been occasions when he'd felt worse, and definitely times when he'd been much more severely injured. At least all of his limbs were currently fully functional, or nearly so, which was a plus. Nevertheless, remembering times when his life sucked worse wasn't really helping much to improve the fact that everything was pretty high on the suck-o-meter right now this minute.

His right arm was killing him. He hadn't wanted to admit it, but what Roy had said about the internal injuries being worse than the external was completely true. The entire right side of his torso felt numb and it throbbed with a dull ache. This was accompanied by a general queasiness that refused to go away, and a shakiness on top of that, a feeling which Ed particularly loathed. Luckily automail did not reflect slight movements, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to hide the fact that he'd been shaking uncontrollably inside since it had happened.

_I can't believe that guy. Here we are trying to help him, and this is the thanks we get._ Ed didn't know what pissed him off more: the fact that Soubi had attacked him like that, or the fact that he had let himself be hurt by someone who was so fucking pathetic. _I should have just told Roy to let him go. Why the hell did we have to get involved?_

But he knew why. _Ritsuka._ Where was Ritsuka now? How were they ever going to find him when their only connection had just booked a ride on the crazy train? _Never mind booked a ride: he's got a lifetime fucking rail pass. _

Ed sighed and carefully turned over on his back, staring up at the ceiling. What he wouldn't give right now for some of that bitter herbal tea that Granny Pinako used to brew, which he always complained about loudly, but it never failed to calm him and bring the pain down to a level he could stand. Whatever over-the-counter pain medication Roy had given him from Soubi's medicine cabinet was seriously _not_ helping.

He looked over at Roy, conked out next to him as usual. Ed spent so much time watching Roy sleep these days that he had memorized all of his nocturnal patterns. At a glance, he could tell by his position and the depth of his breathing how long he'd been out to the world and how soon he'd likely awaken. He knew when he was sleeping well, when he was restless, and when he was having what Ed assumed were nightmares, though the only visible indications of distress were the tensing of his muscles and the tiny crease that formed between his brows.

Right now, Roy was clearly deep in dreamland, his head lying flat against the bed sheet without a pillow, his pitch-black hair plastered to his face, his lips partly open, drooling slightly. Ed knew if he were to reach out and touch him, Roy would jump 10 feet in the air and land with his fingers in snapping position, on full-alert. Ed grinned inwardly at the thought of trying it, but he knew the man was exhausted, and he had to admit that he was once again grateful to Roy for everything he'd done for him recently.

_Some day, I'm going to document all of this information in a report and leave it on that bastard's desk, just to see what he does. _An Authorized Guide to the Sleeping Habits of one Col R. Mustang, by E. Elric. Stage 3: Drooling. _Once subject has reached Stage 3, nothing short of a nuclear attack will wake subject, unless someone should accidentally touch him, in which case…  
_  
Edward's train of thought was interrupted by a noise outside the window. He turned to see if he could discern its cause, but there was nothing readily apparent. _Must be the rain…_ Closing his eyes, he sighed, wishing he'd listened all those times Izumi-sensei had tried to teach him meditative techniques. Back then he'd had no patience for it, but it sure would come in handy now…

His eyes snapped open. Someone, or something, was definitely in the room with them. Though he couldn't see anyone, he could sense a presence. "Who's there?"

He reached over to touch Roy's shoulder as gently as he could when suddenly something grabbed his other arm, something wet and clammy with a grip like iron, pulling him roughly out of bed. Pain shot through his injuries like hot lava as he hit the floor with a jolt. Nevertheless he managed to grab his attacker by the hair with his metal fist and pull him far enough away to get a good look at him. He found himself staring into the eyes of a very wet and very frantic looking Agatsuma Soubi.

"Well, if it isn't Post Traumatic Pretty Boy. What, you didn't zap me hard enough the first time?"

He didn't get to finish his thought, however, because suddenly Soubi was blasted off of him like a booster rocket. He slammed into the window, then crashed down onto the floor and lay motionless. A tuft of his hair was still clenched in Ed's automail. It was singed at the edges. The burnt smell in the air was mixed with the scent of ozone.

Roy was standing by the side of the bed, fingers outstretched, with a look on his face that Ed had only seen once before, though he couldn't recall exactly when. He was angry, but flowing beneath the anger was an undercurrent of something else – something like abject horror - which was very foreign to him as far as Ed was concerned. Roy's left hand was clenched into a fist at his side, and Ed noticed he was shaking. Beads of sweat had formed on his brow, and his breath came in short, sharp gasps.

Ed sat up. "Roy?"

He didn't answer at first. Then he shook his head violently, running a hand through his hair. The frightening look vanished. He started to come back to himself as he turned to face Edward. "Are you… all right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure about Pan-fried Pretty Boy over there..." Ed started to get up and go over to where Soubi was stirring when Roy caught him by the shirt and dragged him back. Pulling him into his arms, he clutched Edward so tightly it was painful. Ed would have protested, but Roy was clinging to him as if his very sanity depended on it. He could feel his Fighter's entire frame shuddering as he fought to come back from wherever it was he had just been. Changing his mind, Ed leaned back, letting Roy rest his chin on top of his head, reaching up to clasp Roy's hands in his own.

Ed suddenly remembered when he had seen Roy look like that before. It was years ago, when he had been young and foolish enough to challenge Roy to a duel in front of the entire army. Hughes had still been alive back then, he recalled, because he'd refereed the match. They'd nearly destroyed the place, between the two of them. Ed had held his own fairly well, but ultimately Roy's skill and experience had won out, and Ed had found himself on the ground gazing up at Roy's gloved fingers, waiting to become Elric Fricassee.

But it had never happened. Roy had just stared at him, and Ed had the feeling he was looking straight through him, not seeing him at all. That same frightening look had been in his eyes back then, as if he were fighting an internal struggle about which Ed knew nothing, a struggle that absolutely terrified him. Whenever Ed had asked him about it, he'd avoided the question, so Ed had finally dropped it. He assumed it had something to do with Roy's experiences in Ishbal, the horrors of which Ed had only heard whispered rumors. As much time as he spent with Roy, as many habits and moods of his that he could predict, there were times when he felt like there was a huge gulf separating them, and that when it came down to it, he really didn't know his Colonel at all.

Soubi slowly sat up, leaning heavily against the sliding glass door. Other than a few bruises and a general frizzled sort of look, he seemed to be okay, miraculously. Lucky for him he was wet when he came in. He looked up at Roy. "I'm… sorry. I have no choice. I have to take Edward to him. Otherwise he will hurt Ritsuka."

Ed could tell that Roy had had it. He felt all of his muscles tense at once. _Look out, Pretty Boy, you're about to get a dose of Mustang Unbridled. _"You have absolutely no idea how civilized people behave, do you? No idea how to be human. No idea at all."

For a moment Soubi looked so wretched that Ed thought he was going to start crying. He hung his head and answered almost inaudibly, "No."

"Then let me just fill you in, shall I?" Roy shifted Ed slightly to the side so that he could gesticulate and maintain his hold on his Sacrifice at the same time. "Number one, civilized people are generally not in the habit of haphazardly jolting their colleagues with electric shocks when they wake up in the morning. Not on purpose, not accidentally, not for any reason at all. Number two, civilized people do not, as a rule, show up in the middle of the night and try to drag their associates out of bed by force. Not only is this generally an ineffective persuasion tactic, but it is also exceedingly bad manners. Number three, they most certainly do not then turn around and expect their colleagues to suddenly agree to help them by willingly giving themselves up to the enemy."

Roy was nearly spitting nails at this point, his voice increasing in volume with each argument he made. "Do you know why, Agatsuma-san? Because it's RUDE, that's why. It's rude, crude, and obnoxious; uncouth, uncultured, and _dragged up in the gutter!" _

Roy accentuated each of these pronouncements with pointed fingers, his face livid, his eyes almost black with fury.

"Did you honestly think that you could just waltz in here and take Edward by force? Are you that much of an idiot? Are there any brains under that fancy hair of yours? Answer me!"

Soubi's eyes suddenly widened in fear. "N-no."

"No _sir_."

Soubi backed closer to the window, staring at Roy as if he had just sprouted demon wings. Roy was laying it on a bit thick, Ed supposed; there really wasn't any reason why Soubi needed to address him as if he were his subordinate. Still, it was an odd reaction. After a moment Soubi took a deep breath and whispered, "No, sir."

"So what _were_ you thinking? Or did you even think at all? Do you ever think about anyone but yourself and your Sacrifice? Does it even occur to you to do so?"

"No." Soubi shifted uncomfortably. "No, sir."

"_Clearly not. _What exactly did you hope to achieve, crashing in here like some kind of deranged lunatic?"

"I… I don't know. I just… need Ed to come with me."

"Did you ever think of_ asking him? _Walking in here like a rational, reasonable, sensible human being, turning on the lights and saying, '_We have a situation_' or _'This is an emergency_' or even _'I need your help_'?"

"No, sir."

"Did you even think for five minutes about how this scenario would look from our point of view? Suppose I showed up in the middle of the night and dragged Ritsuka away from you? Would that make you want to help me?"

"No, sir."

"Would that encourage you to trust me and inspire you to come to my aid?"

"No, sir."

"So the question of the hour is then, Agatsuma-san, _why the hell should we help you at all?" _

"I'm not asking you to help me. I'm asking you to help Ritsuka. No, I'm begging you. Please." At that, Soubi bowed all the way to the ground at Roy's feet.

Roy sighed. "It's not up to me, it's up to Edward. He's the one the man in black wants."

Soubi looked up, surprised for a moment, then he bowed again, in front of Edward.

Ed snorted. "Get up, Pretty Boy. You've got some explaining to do if we're gonna figure out how to waste that bastard who took Ritsuka."


	19. Chapter 19

Ritsuka was lying perfectly still.

He had mastered this technique after many years of living with his mother's volatile mood swings. If he lay on his bed and didn't move, didn't react to prodding or pushing or even mild violence, usually after a while she would lose interest and leave.

Despite the fact that he was hungry, uncomfortable, and had to use the bathroom, he remained motionless. If he showed any signs of stirring, he would likely be drugged again, and he needed a clear head if he wanted to help himself. He had to find some way to distinguish what was real from what was illusion, true memories from false, where he was and how he was going to get home. The only person capable of doing all of those things was Ritsuka himself.

Since Seimei died, Ritsuka had learned the hard way that waiting around for someone to save him was generally a fruitless and regrettable exercise. When it came down to it, the only one he could truly rely on was himself. Either he had to figure something out, or he was going to be once again at the mercy of his circumstances, swept along like so much debris after a storm, left in the gutter to be swept up with the morning's garbage.

A boiling current of anger washed over him as he lay there, its cadence coursing through his veins like crimson fire. There was a nascent voice inside of him demanding to be heard, a voice that was sick and tired of letting his entire life being determined by outside forces. He couldn't even be sure his own memories belonged to him. What kind of life was this? An image appeared in his mind unbidden: Edward, ridiculously attacking that unfortunate tree in the park. _What? Why am I thinking of that person? He's an idiot._ Yet the mental picture would not leave him.

Ed was unlike anyone he had ever known. Ritsuka had basically given up on expecting people to actually listen to him, to consider his feelings or his point of view before making decisions that were going to seriously impact his life. His father had disappeared without a word to Ritsuka. Seimei was gone in a flash. His mother could be calm and patient one minute, violent and hostile the next, Ritsuka's actions or reactions making little or no difference. With Soubi, he never knew whether his pleas were being taken seriously, whether his Fighter only obeyed him because he was forced to, or if he was just disregarding Ritsuka completely. It had gotten to the point where Ritsuka just assumed he wouldn't be heard, or more truthfully, that it didn't really matter what he thought. People were going to do whatever they liked, and if he were crushed underfoot, well, that was an unfortunate but necessary casualty.

Edward, on the other hand, not only expected everyone to listen to him, he demanded it. Loudly. With vigor. If they still didn't listen, he would clobber them over the head with his metal fist until they _did_ listen. It was terribly immature, and Ristuka heartily disapproved, but on the other hand, there was something about that boy that he couldn't help but admire. Edward never gave up. Not ever. All that he had told Ritsuka about his life's struggles – if all of it were true, and Ritsuka had a feeling it was – through all of that hardship, he had never surrendered. He just kept going. Even now, separated from his family, his brother and his entire world, he just keeps hacking away, just like he hacked away at that tree. Striving, persevering, never ceasing.

There was just something so _alive_ about him, a vital force, a will to move forward despite adverse circumstances – no, circumstances be _damned._ Edward was just so unique: so different from Soubi, who pledged himself with utmost sincerity, yet at the same time was helplessly entrenched in an inescapable web of deception. So different from his teachers, who appeared to posses a genuine desire to help him, but were always hesitant, unsure, preferring blameless denial to the truth that appeared before their eyes each school morning in the form of countless bruises and bandages. So different from Seimei, even, who was always kind to him, but somehow never encouraged him to be anything but obedient. Edward was matchless, unexampled, unequaled, and Ritsuka wondered, not for the first time, what might happen if he were to take a leaf from his book.

His musings were interrupted by the sound of the bedroom door opening. Ritsuka remained absolutely still, listening intently. Two sets of footsteps entered the room. One of them approached the bed and stood there, watching him. Ritsuka hoped the pseudo-somnolent breathing that had always fooled his mother was good enough to mislead the false Seimei as well. _The false Seimei. That's right. Not my brother. Not…_

Apparently it worked, because he commented, "He's still out. Orders?"

_Orders? Was the false Seimei a Fighter, then?_ Ritsuka shuddered; his voice was exactly, exactly like that of his dead brother. It took all of his will not to open his eyes and jump into his arms. _Not my brother. NOT…_

The other man answered in a voice that sounded familiar to Ritsuka, though he did not recognize it. "Take him down to the laboratory. When the one with the Blood of the Father arrives, I want everything to be already in place."

"Hai, Sensei"

_Wait, what did he say? The Blood of the Father? What was going on?_ Ritsuka thought hard. He had heard that turn of phrase before, he knew he had… a long, long time ago. His past memories - the real Ritsuka's memories? - were still foggy, as if coming from a great distance away, but the more time he spent awake in this house, the clearer they were becoming.

Ritsuka allowed himself to be lifted off of the bed by the false Seimei, going limp in his arms with practiced skill. He felt himself being carried down stairs, and he wracked his brain trying to remember whether or not this house had a basement or where this laboratory could possibly be. They went down a second set of stairs. The air started to smell sterile, antiseptic, like a hospital. A metal door was opened. Ritsuka could hear the jingling of keys. Lights were turned on. They placed him on something soft. He didn't move. More jingling, the clang of something shutting near to him. Lights were turned off; he heard the loud snap of the main door being pulled closed, then footsteps walking away.

Deciding to risk cracking open one eye, he found that he was lying on the floor of a large cage. There was a rumpled sheepskin or something like it underneath him. It was dark, but there were lights flashing on the various electronic equipment in the room. _Where was this place?_ Like everything else, it seemed weirdly familiar to him, but he had no coherent memory of it.

He was debating whether or not it would be safe to move. Not quite yet, he surmised, in case they returned, or they were watching him on video. He sighed, abandoning himself once again to his thoughts. The phrase _Blood of the Father_ was still running through his mind. Where had he heard it, whose voice had it been…

Suddenly, it hit him. It was _his father's voice_. Ritsuka's own father, whom he hadn't remember much about at all until… very recently. His father, Aoyagi Kenji. Ritsuka could hear his voice clearly in his head, speaking very urgently: "You don't know how valuable you are to them, Ritsuka. You and Seimei both. The Blood of the Father runs strong in both of you."

_What… was this?_ It was such an odd feeling, to be remembering things that happened to someone else, to some other part of himself, or something equally disturbing. Even more peculiar was the fact that he somehow knew who the man with the familiar voice had been talking about when he said "the one with the Blood of the Father": _Edward._ He couldn't figure out how or why he knew this, he just… knew. Edward, like himself, had the Blood of the Father. They were alike. Related, even. _Related? Get a hold of yourself, Ritsuka. There's no way you can be related to that kid; he's from another world!_ Still, the feeling wouldn't leave him. The false Seimei and the familiar-voiced man were leading Edward here for some reason.

Despite the jeopardy of his situation, Ritsuka had to smile. _They have no idea what they're in for, do they? Go ahead. Summon the one with the Blood of the Father. I imagine by now he's tired of trees._


	20. Chapter 20

Colonel Mustang was not feeling very optimistic with regards to this particular campaign. On the Amestris Scale of Effective Military Tactics, it would rate about a 4, maybe a 5 if he actually had subordinates who were willing to follow his orders and were not extremely emotionally volatile, neither of which was the case. Unfortunately there was very little he could do about that, so he was forced to work with what he had.

All of this still would have been reasonably tolerable if he himself were not feeling quite so emotionally volatile at the moment. It had been a long time since he had been that severely triggered, waking up on red-alert in that old Ishbal sort of way. And on top of it, there was something about this Fighter/Sacrifice nonsense that was still fucking with him. He was no longer able to maintain proper military detachment during combat situations, and this was seriously not okay. When Edward was attacked it was like his entire world shrunk immediately to a single focus: every fiber of his being suddenly became possessed with an all-consuming urgency to protect him. It was like being grabbed by the throat and forced to look in one direction only. This was decidedly _not optimal_ from a military standpoint, and it was pissing Roy off.

It wasn't just the loss of control that bothered him. There was something niggling in the back of his mind about this Fighter/Sacrifice game that he couldn't quite put his finger on, but it vexed him nevertheless. It felt a little too much like… alchemy. Like being under someone's alchemical influence. Ed's harsh words to Soubi kept flashing through his mind, _Don't you try that Fighter voodoo shit on me! It wont work: I'm an alchemist, not some brainless idiot you can mindfuck like that!_ This whole thing felt like a mindfuck, and Roy didn't like it, not one bit.

He surveyed the situation once again. Under his direction Edward had used alchemy to construct a military barricade out of the surrounding rocks and trees directly across from the small house in the woods. Roy now had a full view of the premises and anyone that might come in and out, and he was considering different strategies should they have to take the house by force. _Nice to know at least a fraction of Edward's military training has actually sunk in. Now if we could just work on the insubordination issue…_

Truth be told, however, though he would never admit it to Edward, Roy preferred Ed the way he was, rather than someone like Soubi who followed orders without question, no matter what the consequence. Roy had seen first hand how destructive that could be, and it heartened him to know that if Edward were ever in a similar situation, he would likely tell his superior officers where to shove it and how far.

"What are you smirking at?" Ed had come up on the top of the barricade to stand next to Roy.

"You. Edward, you shouldn't be up here. We discussed this. You are the one they want. This plan isn't going to work if they can just pick you off with an assault rifle any time they want."

"You said they weren't trying to kill me. They're convinced I'm part of their magically fucked up family or whatever. And somehow I'm doubting they have assault rifles."

"Nevertheless, we shouldn't make it easy for them. I suggest you go back down there with Soubi. I don't want him getting any stupid ideas of rushing off towards Ritsuka should his Sacrifice happen to wake up down there and start calling for him."

"If he does, that's too fucking bad for him. Let them shoot him, I don't care. I'm not getting zapped again. If he wants to commit seppuku that's his own damned problem."

Roy sighed and put his fingers on the bridge of his nose. "Ed, please, we agreed that you would follow my military advice, remember? I've done this more than a few times. Please trust me." Ed grumbled, but grudgingly moved back down to the enclosed structure.

Roy was about to resume scanning the property, looking for vulnerable points, when a man stepped out the front door. He was tall, with shoulder length hair and glasses not unlike Soubi's, wearing a dark blue cardigan over a white collared shirt, khaki pants, boots. _Ritsu-sensei, I presume._ Making a point of not looking at the enormous barricade which had just sprung up in his back yard, he pulled out a cigarette. _Smug bastard. Unfortunately for you, I am a smug bastard plus one._

Ritsu flicked his lighter, once, twice… then it exploded in his face. He shielded himself with a wave of his hand, putting the fire out with relative ease. Replacing the cigarette into his pocket, he then looked up. "Clever. Roy, isn't it?" His voice carried despite the fact that he was some distance away.

"Colonel Mustang, to you. I take it you haven't come out to chit-chat."

"No, indeed. You have something I want."

"And you have something I want. Care to discuss terms?"

"Not particularly. You see, Colonel Mustang, I'm a man who is very used to getting what he wants. I want Edward Elric to come down here, now. And he will."

Roy was slightly unnerved at the use of Ed's last name, but he schooled his face to show nothing. "I see. And what makes you think that he will do what you say?"

"It's very simple. I have his brother, Alphonse."

It took all of Roy's training not to let the surprise show on his face. _Al is here? How in the hell…?_ "Prove it."

"I don't have to."

"Why is that?"

"Look behind you." Roy wasn't stupid enough to turn around, but he knew what he'd see there. _Edward. Edward, don't…!_

"What do you know about my brother?" Ed's voice was low and murderous. _Damn it, Ed, you are playing right into his hands…!_

Roy swallowed, his mouth dry as the grave. He knew it was useless, but he had to try. He turned around to face Ed directly. "Fullmetal, listen to me. Don't do this. It's obviously a trap. This is what he wants. Let me handle this, Edward, please…"

"Roy. Shut up."

Roy seethed. _I'm going to kill him. When this is all over, if he's still alive, I'm going to tear him limb from metal limb, I swear it._

Ed stepped up on top of the blockade and stared straight at Ritsu. "What have you done with Al?"

Ritsu calmly adjusted his glasses with one finger. "Come down here and I'll show you."

Ed started climbing right over the rampart. Roy grabbed his left arm desperately. He couldn't make a sound, but his glowering eyes begged Edward to regain his senses. "Roy. Let go. I have to do this. I have to find out if this bastard really has Al. Stay here. Don't follow me."

Roy could only stare helplessly as Ed disappeared over the wall and walked right into Ritsu's clutches. Ritsu opened the door and glanced back at Roy, one eyebrow raised, his lips curved slightly into an evil looking smirk. _Son of a bitch._

Roy sat down hard on the ground. _I cannot believe this is happening. I cannot believe Edward just did that to me._ He felt cold all over. The worst of it was that he should be angry, he should be furious… but the most overwhelming feeling he had right now was one of despair. His Sacrifice had rejected him. He was unwanted. Rejected. Despised.

A pair of light blue suede boots appeared in his field of vision. Roy looked up into the eyes of a surprisingly placid looking Agatsuma Soubi. He was holding a fifth of scotch. "Well, Colonel, I believe we have a situation."

Roy blinked. _What did he just say...?_ He grabbed the bottle by the neck and took a long swig. _At least if I die in this fucked up world, I'll know that somebody learned something from me once, anyway._ He put his head in his hands. They were shaking.


	21. Chapter 21

Ed knew that Roy was going to be pissed. Worse, he could feel his anger, betrayal and despair on the other end of their Fighter/Sacrifice link like a physical wound. He steeled himself to ignore it. _I promised to bring Al back. Whatever it takes. I can't let Roy interfere again. Al is too important._

He followed Ritsu through the door, reminding himself to scan the room for potential exits like a good little soldier. _At least he can be proud of me for something._ Ed knew it was important to stay alert. There was something about this place that just didn't smell right.

Ritsu lead him into a small kitchen, where a tea set was sitting on the table, all properly prepared. "Tea?" he offered, taking a seat at the table and gesturing to Edward to take the seat opposite. He was the very picture of forced cordiality.

Ed stood where he was, his fists clenched. "Look, you bastard, I'm not here to have a fucking tea party. You said you have my brother. So where is he? Spill it."

Ritsu chuckled. "Ah, of course. Right to the point. Just like your father. Though he was a bit more soft-spoken."

Ed was taken aback. "There's no way you could know… that guy."

"No? Hmm." Ritsu leaned back with his teacup, crossing one leg over the other, as if they were simply sipping tea on a Sunday afternoon with no particular agenda. "I suppose you imagine that you are the first to ever travel between our two worlds. Your father thought he was the first, too. Bit egotistical, don't you think? When it comes down to it, there's really nothing new under the sun. Your father liked to think of himself as a great explorer, uncovering new territory and all of this. Very interesting man, Hohenheim of Light."

"That… that guy… was here."

"Mmm."

"So… so when you say I have the Blood of the Father…"

"That's right. You are related to all of the Fighter and Sacrifice pairs here, Edward-kun, because they all sprung from the same seed. That of your father."

"Wh-what?" Ed sat down hard on the chair. His head was spinning.

"He was rather… prolific, I suppose you could say."

_What the hell was this schizoid talking about? That guy… here? Sprung from the same… seed?_

"So… so you're saying I'm _related_ to Ritsuka and Soubi…"

"Ritsuka, yes. Soubi, no. He's… different."

Ed was having to seriously fight to keep his focus. He was starting to doubt the wisdom of ordering his Fighter to stay behind. Roy was much better at this deductive shit than he was. He would know what questions to ask, how to get the answers he needed. Ed felt like he was being swept downstream very quickly, and he was concerned that there just might be perilous falls ahead.

"So, wait... when was... that guy... here, exactly?"

"Oh, I'd say it was about… 200 years ago. Give or take."

_Two hundred years…?_ Ed was familiar with his father's bizarre history, but somehow it always seemed fantastical him. He wasn't quite over the shock that his father was actually more than 400 years old and had been keeping himself alive via alchemy all this time, never mind the idea that he might have traveled to other worlds and fathered children there, too. _No wonder the sleazeball never came home; apparently Al and I were just numbers to him. World A, kids number 56 and 57. Great. Like I needed more reasons to hate that asshole._

"And… that was the last time… you saw him. Two hundred years ago."

"Yes."

"So you… you're…" _There was something about this place that just didn't smell right. Shit._ "You're like my father."

"Yes. And that's why I need your help, Edward-kun."

"My help? What the hell do you expect me to do?"

"I need to travel to your world and contact your father. He is a great alchemist, greater than myself or anyone here. I require his… assistance."

_I'll bet you do, you creepy bastard._ Ed was concentrating hard on forcing his human limbs to stop shaking. _That smell. Rotting. Death. I hate that smell. I hate it…_ He shook his head, trying to clear it. Taking a deep breath, he recalled Roy's words to him: _It's better to wait, gather information, and then make your move. Right._

"So… let me get this straight. That guy came here 200 years ago and… fathered children. And those kids became Fighters and Sacrifices?"

"Yes. Your father and I started an alchemical academy here, though we did not give it that name. We called it Septimal Moon, after the Seventh Stage of Alchemical Transformation, which is symbolized by the Moon, as I'm sure you'll recall."

Ed did know. The Seven Stages of Alchemical Transformation were part of the basic tenets of Alchemy. "But… how does the whole Fighter/Sacrifice thing come into it?"

"I'm sure you are familiar with the concept of the Alchemical Marriage?"

"Of course. The _coniunctio_, the unification of opposites, fire and water, male and female, fixed and mutable, sun and moon."

"Correct. The Fighter and Sacrifice Pairs of Septimal Moon are each in themselves a microcosmic Alchemical Marriage. Hohenheim and I created this grand experiment, hoping to eventually produce a pair so powerful that they were able to perform a literal, macrocosmic Alchemical Marriage, thereby producing a literal _saxum philosophorum_."

"The Philosophers' Stone." _Damn it, no matter where you go, these bastards are always after the same thing…!_

"Exactly. Only… it has yet to work."

"Look, I hate to break it to you, but I'm out of the business of trying to manufacture Philosophers' Stones. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, sung that song, wrote that fucking book. I'M DONE. There is absolutely nothing you can say that is going to convince me to take part in anything involving the Stone at this point, not even for Al's sake. Already been down that road. So you might as well not even bother."

"Slightly bitter about this, are we?" Ritsu smirked. Edward was not amused. "I was not suggesting that you take part in a ritual to create the Stone. What I want from you is much simpler, and much more reasonable. I only want you to open the Gate so that I may step into your world."

Ed snorted. "For someone who's supposedly a 200 year old alchemist, you seem to know surprisingly little about this process. One does not simply 'open the Gate'. The Gate demands a sacrifice in order for someone to cross through. Even if I were to open it – and I'm not saying I even know how – that doesn't give you free license to jump through. Even if it did, you wouldn't be able to control where you went. The Gate leads to many different worlds…" Ed trailed off. The memories of his experiences with the Gate were still raw, painful, and frightening to him.

"Oh, I am well aware of that. But you can leave that complication to me. All you need to do is open the Gate and retrieve your brother, Alphonse, who is currently trapped between the worlds."

_What?_ "Al is… trapped?" He knew something had gone wrong when he and Roy had ended up in this world, and he remembered having a dream that Al was trapped somewhere, but to think that he'd been stuck inside the Gate all this time… Ed shuddered involuntarily.

"Yes. The summoning process was incomplete, due to the intervention of your overly-assertive Colonel, I presume."

"Summoning…?"

Ritsu nodded, picking up a matchbook and lighting a cigarette. "I summoned you. I was trying to summon your father, but you were the closest thing The Gate could locate."

This made no sense at all to Edward. Summoning someone from the other side of the Gate? He'd never heard of such a thing. "How on earth did you…?"

"The details are immaterial. The point is, your brother is stuck in the Gate, and I presume you are interested in freeing him. I myself am interested in Gate-traveling, so I will voluntarily step into the Gate as a sacrifice. All you have to do is open the Gate and pull Alphonse out."

Ed was not convinced. "That sounds entirely too easy."

"Well, there is one small catch. In order to open the Gate from this side, you need to complete the ritual of the Alchemical Marriage with Aoyagi Ritsuka."

"WHAT??"

"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to do anything… inappropriate. You simply need to blend your energies together so that you can create enough power to open the Gate."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"Not at all. I never jest."

_Why am I not surprised._ "Look, even if I were willing to perform this… ritual… with Ritsuka, how would I be sure you were going to uphold your end of the bargain? How do I even know you are telling me the truth about Al?"

"You don't. But you will see him once the Gate opens. And it only stands to reason that I would not know his name had I not sensed his presence there."

_Unless you are a lying bastard and this is all just a bunch of bullshit._

"This makes no sense. Why do you need me? If you have all these other Fighter/Sacrifice pairs around who could conceivably perform this ritual –"

"You were directly conceived from Hohenheim. Your power is therefore exponentially greater. The other pairs are much weaker, their blood having been diluted many times. Aoyagi Ritsuka is also incredibly powerful, as the blood ran strong in both his mother and his father."

"Hang on – Ritsuka's parents were _genetically related?_"

"Yes, as is the case with most of our little family. We couldn't let the strain die out, after all."

The wheels in Ed's brain were spinning furiously. _This conversation just went from kinda frightening to seriously batshit fucking crazy. They're all inbred…? Well, that's certainly one way to explain Ritsuka's nutjob of a brother. If that even is his brother. Shit._

"There is something else I still don't understand. If all of the Fighter/Sacrifice pairs are related to… that guy, and that's why they retain alchemical powers, what about the ones who aren't? Like Soubi, or like Roy? Why did Roy and I become linked like that when we crossed over?"

"That is something I was wondering about as well. There are some parts of this process that are very organic and seem to take on a life of their own. If I had to guess, I would say that it must have something to do with your relationship. If I'm not mistaken, it was the Colonel's concern and affection for you that drew the two of you together as a pair as you passed through the Gate."

_Roy's affection… for me? If I wasn't sure this guy was spouting bullshit before, I certainly know it now. He slips around conversation about Soubi like a shifty snake. Wonder what that's about._ Ed sighed, putting his fingers to the bridge of his nose, unconsciously channeling Roy. _I really have no choice, here. If even part of this is true, if there's even a chance I can reach Al…_

"All right, here's the deal. If you take me to Ritsuka and show me where Al is, I'm willing to go as far as trying to pull Al out if that's possible. But one wrong move from you and I'll wreck the whole thing. If you have ulterior motives, now would be the time to admit them. I may look like I'm just a kid, but back home, I'm famous for fucking shit up, alchemically speaking. And my partner, Roy, isn't fucking around either."

"The one you ordered to stay out of this."

"True enough, but I can call him back any time I want. I'm serious, pal. Don't fuck with me. You'll regret it."

"So noted. Shall we?"

As Ed stood up, a cold shiver ran through his entire body. _No doubt about it, this undead motherfucker is lying through his teeth. But what choice do I have? Al, can you hear me? I swear I'll do everything in my power to get you back. I'll never give up on you. Not now, not ever._


	22. Chapter 22

Ritsuka heard the door open, but he did not move. The lights flickered on again. Someone was calling his name.

"Ritsuka!"

_Edward…!_

He heard a clap, felt a flicker of magic, and then suddenly Edward's arms were around him, gently lifting his head, checking his pulse. "Ritsuka, can you hear me? Are you okay? Ritsuka!"

Ritsuka was just considering opening his eyes when he heard another voice, that familiar, sinister tone he had detected earlier. "You'll find that he's perfectly all right. Drugged, but not harmed." _Better not risk moving yet._

"You bastard." Ed pulled Ritsuka closer, rocking him slightly, cradling his head in his left hand. "Ritsuka. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for all of this. It's my fault. I promise I'll make it better. We're gonna get Al and get the hell out of here. Just hang on. It'll be all right."

_What did he just say? Al? His_ brother _Al? What exactly is going on? And how is any of this Edward's fault?_

"A touching reunion, indeed. Shall we get on with it? There are some preparations that need to be made before the ritual can begin."

"Shove it, asshole. You're not in charge, here. This is a tentative cessation of hostilities between enemies for a mutually beneficial purpose. As soon as it becomes un-mutual, I'm outta here. You want my cooperation, I suggest you try kissing my ass a little harder."

Two thoughts flashed through Ritsuka's mind at once. _Ritual? What kind of ritual?_ Followed by: _Tentative cessation of hostilities for a mutually beneficial purpose...? Someone is starting to sound just like his Fighter._

"So noted. You may want to consider painting these runes on your person before attempting to open the Gate. You will recognize them as alchemical symbols for Earth and Stone. They will help ground your physical body in this dimension."

_Open the Gate? As in the Gate between our two worlds? This is_ bad. A frisson of déjà vu ran through Ritsuka as Edward let him go and stepped out of the cage. Something about all of this was starting to feel hauntingly familiar…

"Fine, whatever, let's just get this over with." Ritsuka heard him shuffling out of his shirt and he recognized the acrid scent of greasepaint. The smell sickened him, though he wasn't sure exactly why.

"In order for you to properly complete the ritual, you must embody the Red King, and Aoyagi Ritsuka the White Queen. This is an arcane and ancient rite, the complexities of which I do not have time to impart to you. In the most simplistic terms, the twofold energies of the Red King and the White Queen are already present: omnipresent, in fact. All you need to do is connect briefly with them in order to channel enough power to open the Gate from this side."

Ritsuka imagined Ed rolling his eyes as he stepped back into the cage. "Look, you freakshow, back where I'm from, we don't bother with all this magical mumbo-jumbo. Just show me the array. I'll fucking figure it out myself."

The other man coughed. "It's directly above you."

This time, Ritsuka couldn't help but open his eyes. _Directly above us?_ He glanced toward the ceiling of the cage, but he couldn't see anything. Then Ed clapped his hands and pressed them to the ground, and suddenly, a series of complicated designs was visible both above and below them. Bisecting lines, circles inside circles, and other intricate symbols framed the central motif: two intertwining snakes, one white and one red. Written around the outside of the circle were words in a language Ritsuka did not know, and yet, they were somehow strangely familiar to him:

LUNA ES  
SOL SUM  
PARS CONIUNGIT  
DUO UNUM

Edward read the words out loud, then he spoke in an odd voice:

_You are the Moon  
I am the Sun  
Parts join together  
Two become One._

The man continued. "It is beginning. I will be opposite you, waiting to step into the Gate when it opens. Do not attempt to alter the array once it starts. The Gate has no morals, no preferences. It would just as soon take you or Aoyagi Ritsuka if you make a wrong move. I would advise caution. Yours is not the only life and soul you are bargaining with."

Ritsuka slowly turned his head. The man had stepped into a second cage on the other side of the room. There was something about the look on his face... like a panther waiting to pounce. _Something is wrong here, terribly wrong. I have to stop this…_ He sat up, turned to Edward and was about to open his mouth to speak, when his breath caught. The runes on Ed's body were glowing bright blue, and memories were rushing into Ritsuka's head like a freight train.

_This has happened before._ This all happened before, right here, in this room. Ritsuka remembered being here, and he remembered that man, the man whose name was like his… _Ritsu._ That man was a scientist, like his father, and Ritsuka had gotten in trouble for walking in on some of his… experiments.

And that day, that day it happened, Ritsuka had been watching in secret, and Seimei was there, and Seimei was painted, painted with symbols, just like Ed's, the one that looked like a triangle and one with an arrow pointing down, and Seimei was glowing. Glowing bright blue. And some terrible magic was happening, some terrible dark magic that was pulling Seimei away from him, forever…

"EDWARD!! EDWARD, STOP!!"

But Ed seemed to be unaware of his presence. He was looking somewhere far in the distance, at a place Ritsuka could not see. Threads of magic wove their way around him, binding him to the circle. _Crap. Not good._ Ritsuka got up and moved next to him, but still Ed did not seem to notice. Blue cords wound their way around both cages, and Ritsuka noted that Ritsu was also painted in glowing runes. _He set this all up, just like he did that time with Seimei, and our father, and…_ There had been someone else there, too, that day, someone in the cage with Seimei… _It couldn't have been_ Soubi? But it must have been. Only Ritsuka hadn't known him, then. _How strange. That means that the first time we met, it wasn't really our first time…_

He shook his head, trying desperately to clear it. _I can't worry about that right now. I've got to do something._ There was only one choice. He had to get through to Edward somehow. Taking a deep breath, he stepped in front of Ed and reached out to take his hands.

Immediately, the scene changed. Light spread in every direction, and there seemed to be no one else there but himself and Ed. They were somewhere… between, somewhere outside of time and space. He could still recognize Edward, but he looked… altered, somehow, as if he were filled with a different presence, glowing from the inside out.

"Ed… Ed, we've got to get out of here, we've got to…"

Edward slowly shook his head, and coming closer, he did a strange thing: he smiled. Ritsuka was taken aback. He wanted to insist, _no, this is important, you have to listen…_ But his smile was so radiant, and his golden eyes glowed so beautifully in the sunlight, Ritsuka couldn't help but give in.

Allowing himself to be pulled closer, he suddenly realized they were dancing. This struck Ritsuka as extremely bizarre, not least of all because Ed was the last person he would ever picture as a dancer, but there he was, leading him graciously across the floor, still smiling enchantingly. Ritsuka had never danced a step in his life, and yet, somehow, the movements now came to him easily. It was exhilarating, gliding across the floor with this handsome boy, enjoying the feeling of his billowy white dress swishing back and forth…

_A white dress? How did I come to be wearing this? What is happening?_

There seemed to be a force outside of himself guiding him, steadily moving him in a direction he wasn't sure he wanted to go. _In order for you to properly complete the ritual, you must embody the Red King, and Aoyagi Ritsuka the White Queen._

_The White Queen? Who is…_

Then he saw her, or rather, _sensed_ her. She was the most exquisite creature he'd ever beheld. The first thought that came to him caused his heart to leap into his throat: she was so much like his mother, how she had looked before she became ill, before her graceful features had become twisted with rage and guilt. Her beautiful silken dark hair was blowing gently against her pale white face, and when she smiled, Ritsuka felt his heart break into a thousand shards. She lifted her small, bird-like arms, decorated with opalescent pearls, flowing with diaphanous silks so smooth they seemed to be barely there. One petal-soft hand reached out and touched Ritsuka's cheek, stroking his face gently, and he could not hold back tears.

She moved to embrace him, and Ritsuka tried to fight it, knowing he was only doing what Ritsu wanted, but the Queen was so beautiful, so like his mother, and with such a soft, pure, delicate face… Ritsuka collapsed into her arms, his tears wetting her sweet-smelling silks, his eyes squeezed shut. _Mother…!_

When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer Aoyagi Ritsuka. He lifted his hand; it was draped in the softest, whitest silk. A glittering silver diadem graced his head, and around his neck were ropes of pearls. _I am the White Queen. Come to me, my King. I live and die only for you._

_You are the Moon  
I am the Sun  
Parts join together  
Two become One._

The Red King stood before him, resplendent in carmine velvet and beaten gold that matched his golden hair and eyes. He carried a jeweled scepter and his right arm was made of solid gold. Ritsuka was swept away, far away, to centuries past, to other lands, other lifetimes, journeys long passed and half remembered. He was only conscious of one thought: _This is my Sun. This is my King. I am to become One with him. That is my destiny._

Ritsuka moved closer, allowing himself to be pulled into the arms of the Sun King. _Yes, let us come together. Yes, let us be as one. Yes, yes…_

His lips were soft like velvet, and he was surprised to find they trembled. _This is it, this is everything, everything, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Universe, All is one, One is all…_ He only wanted this, forever. These lips pressed gently to his, these arms around him, this feeling of everlasting bliss. He moved deeper into the kiss, holding him even tighter. _Don't let go. Don't leave me. Don't…_

Suddenly, the scene around him changed again. Darkness was falling. The King faltered in his arms, stumbled. When Ritsuka looked at him again, his blonde hair had turned grey, and his features were suddenly old, centuries old, barely alive… Ritsuka touched his own face and realized the same fate had befallen him. Horrified, he watched as the King became a living skeleton, then nothing but bones, and then dust. Ritsuka screamed as he, too disintegrated into nothing.

* * *

Awareness shifts. Dust swirls across the ground as the rain clouds gather. Drops of water begin falling from the sky. The White Queen is weeping. She weeps for the death of her King, and for all the suffering souls of the world. The droplets gather, in puddles, in streams, in rivers, and finally, flowing to the Sea. The Sea, which holds all the world's sorrows, all the piteous cries of children, all the bereft mothers' tears. The Sea, which rages with force unequaled. The Sea, whose tides are drawn by the Moon. She waits, patiently, as the darkness begins to fade. Slowly, slowly comes the reddish glow. Gently, sweetly comes the Sun King. The Sea swells joyously, celebrating his return, as the two are united once more.

"My Queen, we are Reborn."

"My King, we are One."

* * *

Light exploded around Edward and Ritsuka, and the Gate was unsealed.


	23. Chapter 23

Edward blinked, then blinked again. He was desperately trying to distinguish reality from illusion, and it wasn't working. All he knew was that he and Ritsuka had just undergone something… extraordinary, and now, he was standing at the foot of the Gate, still holding Ritsuka's hands in his.

Only, the Gate seemed different to Edward, though he couldn't explain exactly how. He wasn't feeling the same awe-inspiring dread that he normally felt standing in the presence of the wide-open Gate. This was… something else. Connected to the Gate, yes, but not quite the same. Sort of a sub-Gate. Ed wondered if it was possible for alchemists to manipulate the Gate in such a way as to create their own little corners of it. _If anyone is crazy enough to attempt something like that, it would be this asshole, Ritsu. Or my father. Both of them are out of their fucking minds._

There was something else, though… Edward himself felt different. He could still feel the presence of the Red King behind him, strong and reassuring and _paternal,_ in a way his father had never, ever been. It had changed him, though he was loathe to admit it. Looking over at Ritsuka, he could see that he had changed, too. His eyes seemed to glow with an inner light, and he had lost his shaky, hesitant exterior.

Ritsuka spoke to him, and his voice, too, evinced a new inner strength. "Edward. We need to get out of here. This man, Ritsu, is up to no good. He is an evil scientist who used to work with my father, I remember now. You mustn't listen to what he says. He's untrustworthy. I witnessed this same ritual before, with my brother Seimei in your place, and the outcome was… not good."

"The same ritual? Do you mean to say that this was how your brother…"

Evil laughter rang out all around them. Edward automatically pulled Ritsuka closer to him. "Cut the crap, you stupid bastard. We opened the Gate, that was our end of the bargain. Show me where Al is, and we can all go home, or wherever it is you think you want to go."

The ground under their feet began to tremble; lights and colors churned within the Gate. Edward didn't like this situation at all. He was an alchemist, damn it; the laws of the natural world bent to his will, not the other way around. Ever since he'd walked into this place, alchemy had been happening _to him_, outside of his control, and he was not at all cool with it. He held tightly to Ritsuka as the two of them struggled to keep their footing. There was something appearing in the Gate; he couldn't quite see yet, but he was beginning to sense… a very familiar presence.

Ritsu laughed again, and the sound was projected all around them somehow, in a way which Ed found exceedingly annoying. _If it's one thing I can't stand, it's crappy maniacal laughter. What's_ with _this guy?_

"By all means, please continue, Aoyagi Ritsuka. Do tell Edward Elric all about how I murdered your noble, kind, devoted brother Seimei. How very horrible of me, depriving the world of such a saintly figure. Did it never strike you as odd that you were the only one who had that opinion of him?"

"Ignore him," Ed told Ritsuka loudly, putting a firm hand on the small of his back.

"_Did you ever ask your Fighter how he got his Name?_ What sort of kind, noble soul gives someone a scar like that? Your brother Seimei was one sick bastard. Worse than me, even, and that's saying something."

Ed could feel Ritsuka's breath catch; his hands were trembling. "Ritsuka, don't! Don't listen to him! He's deliberately trying to fuck with you. Screw him! He's a liar!"

"A liar, hmm? Oh no. I am not the one who is lying. I did not murder Aoyagi Seimei. You witnessed the act, you little brat. The miserable bastard killed himself. He drove a knife into his heart right in this room, just to foil my plans. Ask your precious Fighter if you don't remember. He'll tell you, if he deigns to, that is. Why do you think you lost all of your memories prior to that act? You witnessed something you shouldn't have. You left me no choice but to remedy that."

"You're lying!" Ritsuka screamed. A bit of the old Ritsuka was coming back. His face looked pale and terrified. "I didn't lose my memories when Seimei died! It was two years before…"

"You thought what we wanted you to think, Aoyagi Ritsuka, and remembered what we wanted you to remember. We decided which memories you got to keep and which you lost. Your father kept you out of things for a reason. You would have been better off listening to him."

"Liar! You murdered my father, too!"

"I most certainly did not. Your father died committing a sin far worse than any of my own. A sin that I imagine your new little boyfriend is quite familiar with, being that he's missing a few important body parts, in case you haven't noticed. _Human transmutation._ Payback's a bitch, isn't it, Edward-kun? The Gate has no mercy, takes no prisoners. Aoyagi Kenji found that out when he tried to bring his oldest son back from the dead. Didn't work out as well as he thought it might have. Bled to death in his own home. And for what? You know exactly what was created, don't you, Edward-kun? Fortunately, I was there to make sure nothing happened to the… results. And now I have a servant to replace the one I lost in that whole unfortunate incident. _Touka koukan_, wouldn't you say?"

Ed ground his teeth. _Bastard. So that's what that thing is. A homunculus. Great. Can't wait to have to fight his stupid ass when we're done with crazy fuck #1._

Ritsuka faltered; Ed caught him and held him upright. "Ritsuka. Look at me. You are strong enough to make it through this. That bastard is nothing. _Your life is your own._ He can't take that away."

"Such noble sentiments from someone who risked everything on the fleeting hope that he might be able to save his dear little brother. Even to the point of bargaining with someone who was clearly… untrustworthy. Tsk, tsk. I'm afraid you should have listened to your Colonel, little one. But go ahead. Try anyway. Try to bring your dear Alphonse home. He misses you, after all…"

Ed knew he was being baited, but he couldn't stop his blood from boiling. Ritsuka was trying to get his attention but… something else was happening. Someone was calling him from inside the Gate. _Al…! Al, can you hear me?_

As he peered into the swirling colors, he could see someone floating there, weirdly suspended, light blue cords trailing off of him in every direction. His brother, Alphonse Elric, _embodied._ The image was fuzzy and hard to make out, but it was definitely Al, and he was most certainly made of flesh. It was so strange: he looked both tiny and huge at the same time. Tiny, because he was used to seeing him as a 7 foot suit of armor; huge, because the last time he had seen him in the flesh, he was… ten years old? It couldn't have been…

Ed was jarred from his reverie by the strangest sensation he had ever felt. It was as if his insides were struggling to get out. There was a nasty tugging happening in the area of his stomach, nauseating him, and he felt as if he was being yanked, twisted, and pulled towards the Gate, from the inside out. He started to fall, but Ritsuka caught him before he hit the ground. The agony was increasing minute by minute. Ed imagined being torn apart by wolves might be only slightly more painful. _What the hell is happening?_

He tried to think, despite the excruciating pain. The painted runes were keeping his body firmly planted in this world. The Gate, with Al's soul inside it, was pulling him out. Al was inadvertently pulling his body and soul apart. _But why is this happening? Why can't I pull Al out?_

Suddenly, the truth hit him like icewater in the face. _My body. That crazy old fuck wants to take over my body. He planned this entire thing. He manipulated the Gate, he set up the array, he arranged everything. That miserable fucking prick…!_

Ed struggled desperately against the force of the alchemy, but it was useless. He tried to communicate to Ritsuka what was happening, but it was impossible. He could only cling to him in torment as the Gate pulled him further and further away. _Damn it, Roy, you were right, I should never have… left you…_

The pain abruptly changed course, and Ed screamed like he was losing his limbs all over again. His left hand was on fire. Literally on fire. Ritsuka jumped back, petrified. Ed watched in horror as his Name, _Faithless_, was slowly being incinerated from the inside out. The emotional anguish of being forcibly severed from his Fighter was almost worse than the physical pain. His last conscious thought, before he passed out on the floor of the cage, was: _Roy, what have you done?_


	24. Chapter 24

Soubi couldn't believe his eyes. Roy Mustang had just set his own hand on fire.

It wasn't the masochism of the act that disturbed him; he was all too familiar with self-mutilation, and this was not the first time he had witnessed such a thing. It was the fact that Roy was _burning his own Name_. Deliberately severing his connection to his Sacrifice. Of all the things Soubi had endured in his lifetime, this was something he was sure could never, ever force himself to do. The agony of it was inconceivable to him. And yet here he was, complicit to the act, holding Roy down as he writhed in agony. _How the hell had it come to this?_

***

_Earlier…_

Roy Mustang was seriously, seriously not okay. He was simply not able to get drunk enough fast enough, and it was royally pissing him off. There just wasn't enough time. He knew Edward was in grievous danger and he had to get to him immediately. He was throwing down scotch as if it were water, but as he'd discovered on many a desperate evening, it matters very little how much you _want_ to get drunk; your body still takes its own sweet time. If he drank any faster he'd make himself seriously ill and be of no use to anyone. And yet there seemed to be no other option. Roy hated being without options, he hated Edward for doing this to him, and this entire scenario was absolutely fucking infuriating.

He shook himself all over for the hundredth time. _Think, Mustang. This is not real. This fucking Fighter/Sacrifice bullshit is not real. It's part of this world's alchemy, but we are not of this world. It's not real. What's real is that Edward has just put himself into an extremely hazardous situation and it is_ my _job to get him out of it._ Not _as his Fighter, but as his superior officer. He's a_ child. _I just allowed a child to walk into an ambush like a helpless refugee. This is_ not _okay. No part of this is okay._

Soubi had thrown his arm around Roy's shoulder and would take a swig of scotch for every three of Roy's, which was oddly comforting. This was the second time they'd become drinking buddies by default. Roy couldn't remember the last time he'd had someone to get drunk with. In fact, now that he thought about it, the last real drinking buddy he'd had was… Hughes. Well, now that was ironic. _Thanks a lot, Maes. Not only did I lose a drinking buddy, I gained about a hundred more reasons to need one._

A bitter voice in the back of his head, which was getting louder and louder as he got drunker and drunker, had a ready-made solution to all of this: _when all else fails, burn everything down._ Roy didn't want to hear it. Too many times he'd been pushed to that point, and too many times the aftermath was so much worse than anything he could have imagined. Shuddering, he forced himself to ignore the suggestion. _It's ridiculously illogical, anyway. What on earth would I do, set the whole house on fire? What possible purpose would that serve?_

The sneering voice seemed to laugh, then began to mock him in the words of all his old military instructors. _The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. When in doubt, a soldier takes the straightest path available to him. If that means taking down a wall, take it down. Hesitation could cost you precious seconds that could mean the difference between victory and defeat._

A terrible idea began to form in Roy's mind. _A soldier takes the straightest path available to him. If that means taking down a wall…_ He put his head in his hands. Soubi tightened his arm around him. _No. No, I couldn't, it's too horrible…_

Roy felt Soubi's muscles tense. Something was happening down at the house. Soubi lifted his head. "Ritsuka… has just gone somewhere where I cannot reach him. Can you feel Edward at all?"

Roy tried. Whatever Ed was doing, he wasn't letting Roy in. He shook his head.

"Roy, I'm… not going to be able to stay with you for much longer. I have to go down there after my Sacrifice, even if it is a suicide mission. You understand."

Roy nodded. This entire engagement was a fucking suicide mission. He took another sizable gulp of the burning liquid. _Damn it, I've nearly put away this entire bottle, how much more of this do I need to suck down to be rid of you, Edward Elric?_

Suddenly, Roy sat bolt upright. He knew in an instant exactly what had happened. _Edward had opened the Gate_. Oh. shit. _That little bastard! What the hell is he thinking?_

Soubi looked at him, worry evident on his face. Roy took a couple of deep breaths, fighting Ed's order to be silent with all his might. "The… Gate... Ed… opened."

Soubi's eyes went wide. "The Gate between our two worlds, you mean?" Roy nodded vigorously, but immediately regretted it. _Woah! Nearly. Drunk. Now. Yes. Good. Right._

"This is not good. Ritsuka could be in serious danger. I am sensing his presence again now…" Soubi moved to stand. "I must go to him."

"I think… I think…" Roy managed to stand up and tried to move in the direction of the house, but it was as if there was an invisible barrier stopping him. "D-damn it!" Soubi caught him before he hit the ground. Roy fell against him, kicking at the ground in frustration. _Great, now I'm acting just like Edward. Isn't this a splendid turn of events_. He put his head against Soubi's chest, resisting the urge to start sobbing.

Soubi held him for a moment, then moved to pull away, when a horrible stomach-churning wave of nausea hit Roy without warning and he doubled over, crying out in agony.

_Edward!_

Roy tried to focus, but the pain was so intense that he nearly passed out. He couldn't imagine what was happening to Ed, but he knew one thing: he was done fucking around. He was going to get to Ed _now. The shortest distance between two points…_

"Soubi!"

Soubi was kneeling in front of him, holding him by the shoulders. "Roy, what's happening?"

"Hold me… down. That's an… order."

Soubi didn't hesitate; he immediately pushed Roy down and put his knee on his chest.

_Fullmetal, I'm coming. Fight it. Don't give in. Don't you dare give in._

Roy swallowed, once. _Hesitation could cost you precious seconds._ He snapped his fingers. Then he screamed.


	25. Chapter 25

Ritsuka caught Ed as he fell, his left hand now horribly charred and blistered. Across the room, he heard Ritsu shouting angrily. Clinging to Edward, he glanced quickly around, trying to discern the cause of Ritsu's wrath. The amorphous form of what he assumed was Edward's brother on the other side of the Gate hadn't changed, but the runes on Ed's body had stopped glowing quite so brightly. _What on earth had just happened?_

"Ed… Edward, can you hear me?" Desperately trying to discover whether or not he was still breathing, Ritsuka pulled Ed closer to him, searching for a pulse. He had just barely detected one when suddenly, Ritsu rushed into their cage.

"What have you done? You little brat, what did you do to him?"

Ritsuka froze. _What have_ I _done? What is he talking about?_

"Answer me!"

He lifted his hand to strike Ritsuka across the face, when the strangest thing happened. Ritsuka closed his eyes, and it was as if time had slowed. He inhaled deeply, and into his mind came a crystal clear image of the White Queen. Breathing in her scent, taking great comfort in her presence, he reached out his hand and saw it once again draped in the softest of silk, edged with beautiful white pearls. The gossamer fabric seemed to flow endlessly, all around him, like a pearlescent cloak, caressing his face gently and bringing him a feeling of blissful, sweet peace.

When he opened his eyes again, Ritsu was lying on the floor of the cage, stunned, staring up at Ritsuka with great surprise. "When did you learn…?"

Ritsuka wasn't sure what had happened, but he knew one thing: he wasn't going to waste this opportunity. Gathering Ed up into his arms protectively, he looked Ritsu straight in the eye.

"I wont let you touch him," he said in a clear voice.

Ritsu hesitated for a split second, then burst out laughing. "Oh, you Aoyagi brats have spunk, there's no doubt about it. What, do you think that because you picked up an alchemical trick or two on your little journey that you now have the power to defeat me? Is that it? You're pathetic. You're a pathetic little nothing, do you hear me? YOU'RE NOTHING! Nothing you do matters, and it never will. Do you want to know why, Aoyagi Ritsuka? Because you're weak, that's why. You're weak and the strong prey on the weak. That's the way it has always been, and that's the way it always will be. Better get used to it, kid. It's the way of the world. Now step aside, or I'll kill you where you stand."

Ritsuka could hear the blood roaring in his ears. His face felt hot. Standing in front of him was the man who had taken his father and his brother away from him. The one who had tormented his Fighter. The one who had taken his memories. The one who had made his mother's life a living hell, and by extension, his own. And now, this man, this man had the _audacity_ to stand there and tell him he was nothing. Anger burned inside of him, white-hot. Rage overcame fear.

_Your life is your own. He can't take that away._

Ritsuka stood up. His legs were shaking. His hands formed into fists. "I said I wont let you touch him."

"Then die. I tire of your presence."

Ritsu raised his hands, magic crackling around him. Ritsuka took a deep breath and was about to try summoning the protective energy of the White Queen once more, when he heard a loud clap behind him and he was knocked to the ground.

When he looked up again, Ritsu's hands were still in the air, but there was a look of horror on his face: a metal spear was sticking out of his chest and dark red blood was blossoming all over his neat blue cardigan.

Ritsuka spun around and came face to face with an Edward Elric who was almost unrecognizable. Gone was the hot-headed, obstinate teenager who was prone to throwing fits and hacking at trees. Nor was this the willful boy who demanded to know why Ritsuka would ever let anyone hit him, nor the angry, defiant young man who argued incessantly with his Fighter and refused to accept anyone's authority. This was… someone else entirely.

Edward stood poised, ready to strike, a second spear balanced perfectly in his right hand, his muscles tense, a palpable energy emanating from him like electricity. The feral look in his flashing golden eyes frightened Ritsuka: it was so primal, so intense, almost _murderous…_

Ritsu started to fall backward and Edward pounced. With a great leap, he was on top of him like a cat, driving the second spear in next to the first, twisting it savagely as Ritsu thrashed underneath him. Ritsuka put his hands over his eyes.

He opened them again as Ed rushed past, dragging Ritsu with him, dashing toward the still-open Gate. Hauling him up by his collar, Ed shoved Ritsu straight into the opening, clapping his hands as he did so. The runes on Ritsu's now-mangled body shifted and he was swallowed up almost immediately.

Before Ritsuka could cry out in warning, Edward plunged his two hands into the Gate, reaching out for his brother with all of his remaining strength. Ritsuka screamed and grabbed onto Ed from behind, terrified of losing him forever. _No, you can't leave me now, NO!_

Forcing himself to remain calm, Ritsuka closed his eyes, breathed deeply and once again called upon the image of the White Queen and her all-embracing, pearly-white cloak. He pictured it wrapping around himself, Edward, and Edward's brother. _Safe. We are all here, we are all safe._

Blinking, Ritsuka found himself lying on the floor of the cage. Next to him was Edward, and next to Ed was a very pale, very thin, very naked boy whom he assumed must be Edward's brother, Alphonse. _It worked. It actually worked…_

The Gate had closed. It was done. Ritsu was gone. Edward had killed him.

Ritsuka turned to Ed, who had taken Al into his lap and was cradling his head in his hands. Ed glanced up and to Ritsuka's great surprise, he was smiling broadly. His eyes flickered toward the now-sealed Gate.

"Told you I'd fuck shit up, you asshole."


	26. Chapter 26

There were certain things one learned in the army that were never discussed among civilians. Lessons that were never publicized, nor bragged about, nor printed in recruitment pamphlets. Learn to use a gun, they said. Learn to fight like a warrior. Learn to be a man. All of that was rubbish, and Roy knew it.

He supposed it would make the recruitment officers' jobs much harder if they had to sell real military teachings to perspective soldiers. Learn to be beaten within an inch of your life and keep moving. Learn to be pushed to your absolute limits both physically and psychologically and keep moving. Learn to witness horrors that would leave most men begging for merciful death and keep moving.

Thus despite the fact that his left arm was now a charred mass of 3rd degree burns, that he'd just consumed a poisonous amount of alcohol in a very short amount of time, that he'd been half-electrocuted earlier that day, that the sickening smell of burning flesh was shredding the very last edges of his sanity, and that relentless, unspeakable nightmares were pursuing his every step, Roy Mustang kept moving. _Get to Edward. Worry about everything else later. Just get to him._

He and Soubi were hurrying into the house, Roy leaning on the taller man's arm for support. Roy had to hand it to Soubi; he was remarkably calm, considering all that he had just witnessed. He hadn't said a word; he'd simply offered Roy his arm, pulled him up off the ground and lead him straight towards the house. Roy supposed Soubi had also picked up the _keep moving_ lesson somewhere. _Guess the military doesn't own the patent on that one._

They stumbled down the cellar stairs, through an iron door and down a second metal staircase. Roy was glad that Soubi seemed to know the way, because he was seriously having trouble telling reality from hallucination, never mind up from down and left from right at this point. He knew they were getting closer to their goal because he could feel the alchemy in the air and he sensed the ominous presence of the Gate, but his link to Ed was completely broken. He had no idea whether he was going to find Edward dead or alive. All Roy knew was that he needed to get there as quickly as possible, while he still retained the ability to function.

As they rounded a corner, Roy almost crashed straight into Soubi, who had stopped dead in front of him. Regaining his balance, he looked up. His vision was spinning slightly, but he thought he could make out the form of a tall cat-eared man in black. He seemed to be guarding a door. The door to where Edward was. Roy's muddled brain was trying to remember whether or not they had decided this man was actually Ritsuka's older brother, or whether he was an imposter. _Shoot to kill, General? Did they give the orders to shoot to kill?_

Soubi was still standing in front of Roy with his arm outstretched, as if to prevent him from moving forward. His hands were visibly shaking.

"Move it, Pretty Boy, I haven't got time for you to figure out who you belong to."

Soubi's eyes went wide. Roy snapped his fingers. The man in black burst into flames.

Jumping back, Soubi looked at Roy incredulously. "What? Look, we don't have – "

Before he could finish his thought, the man in black was on him like a snake, his hands around Roy's neck. Instinct kicked in: Roy immediately threw himself to the ground, pulling the man in black on top of him; then he snapped his fingers and kicked him as hard as he could, thrusting his burning body away from him. Soubi was instantly at his side, pulling him out of danger.

_There's no way that thing is human. It's way too strong._ Roy had hit him with close to lethal force. It should have finished him, but he was still moving.

At that moment, the door opened, and out stepped Aoyagi Ritsuka. Roy was about to call out in warning, when Ritsuka started screaming like the dead come to life, clinging to his dead brother's charred body, and Roy's carefully patched sanity unraveled like a thousand year old threadbare woven tapestry, finally giving way to the inexorable ravages of time.

_That sound. That hideous screaming. Make it stop, Maes, make it stop!_

Ash was falling all around him, and there was nowhere he could run, nothing he could cling to. Everywhere he turned there was nothing but stinking, burning corpses and death, death, everywhere death. The stench was unbearable; he could barely keep from retching. As he blundered over the carcasses, his hands over his ears, he could still hear it, the screaming, always the ungodly screaming.

_You killed him! My brother, you killed him, you monster! How could you?_

You military devils! How many of us will you murder with no remorse?

Go back to Hell! You have no souls!

You have no souls. Roy laughed, a horrible, savage, deranged sort of laugh. _If you only knew how right you were._

Crawling into a dark hovel, he lay there, shuddering all over, freezing cold despite the omnipresence of fire, always burning, a never ending inferno; he'd been consigned to the bitter flames of Hell. _You have no soul._

Arms were suddenly around him and he couldn't stop from sobbing uncontrollably. _Maes, I can't do this anymore. I can't take one more day of this. I can't. I won't. I'm gonna fucking end it, Maes, I swear to you, I'm just gonna fucking end it…_

Hughes wrapped his arms tightly around him, calling his name over and over: _Roy, come back to me, come back to me, I need you, Roy, come back…_ Roy was clinging to Maes' right hand, putting it close to his face; the cool metal felt so good against his skin… _Metal… wait… Fullmetal…_

Roy took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Ed was looking down at him, fear and concern clearly visible on his face. "Ed…"

Edward's tears spilled onto Roy's cheek as he touched his forehead to Roy's. "I'm sorry, Roy, I'm so sorry, I thought… I thought I'd lost you, I thought…" Roy could feel Ed's small frame shaking as he clung to him. _Alive. The boy is alive. There is a God._

Roy heard a crash off to the side. There was still a battle going on, he recalled. "Fullmetal, what have I told you about triage in a crisis? What the hell are you doing over here with me? Those two are going to be cannon fodder if we don't get over there and help. That man in black, he's not human, he's-"

"A homunculus." Edward was grinning like an idiot.

"What? A true homunculus? Shit. And what the hell are you smiling at?"

"Just glad to have you back, Colonel," he said, offering Roy a hand up.


	27. Chapter 27

Soubi was trying to keep calm, though it was becoming increasingly difficult. Ritsuka's terrible screams were still echoing in his head; it looked like Roy had completely snapped, and the man in black was still moving, even after being nearly burnt to crisp. _This is not good. Not good._

Soubi's heart had frozen in his chest when Ritsuka had unexpectedly opened the door and come face-to-face with his dead brother's charred body. For the second time. It seemed to happen in slow motion: the heavy metal door creaking open, Ritsuka's little ears peeking out from the inside, and before Soubi even had time to scream, his Sacrifice's delicate face was blossoming in abject horror, his soft lips forced open, letting out a terrifying wail that was seared into Soubi's memory like a hot knife into flesh. He'd have done anything to stop that from happening, anything, but it was too late. _I've failed him. I've failed him again. Why is it that I always fail to protect the one who matters most?_

Something very strange was going on with Ritsuka, in addition to being traumatized by the man in black. He seemed to have developed some kind of protective energy field that he'd never had before, and it was extremely strong. The man in black had tried to grab him by the neck, and Soubi had rushed over, steeling himself to fight to the death for his Sacrifice, when suddenly white light exploded all around Ritsuka and the false Seimei was thrown back against the wall. It was all Soubi could do to keep hold of Ritsuka. The white energy felt so peculiar, like something Soubi had never experienced. A quiet strength emanated from his Sacrifice, but it had a nurturing, almost loving quality to it. Soubi did not know what to make of it, but it seemed to fit Ritsuka somehow, as if he'd always had that ability, but it was only just now awakening.

Soubi pulled Ritsuka closer to him, edging them further away from the man in black. Ritsuka automatically snuggled into his chest, wrapping his little arms around his waist. Fathomless eyes blinked open, flooding with grateful tears.

"Soubi… you came for me."

Whatever lingering doubt remaining in Soubi's mind disappeared in that instant. _I will not let you harm him. I don't care if you really are Seimei. I'll kill you. I'll kill you with my bare hands._

A transformation had occurred inside Soubi's brain, a process which began as he watched Roy burn his name from his skin. There was something about that act that had deeply moved him. Not only that Roy would suffer such a thing for his Sacrifice, but that he would break their bond altogether, that he would throw the entire ideology out the window, that he did not even hesitate to do so in order to save his Sacrifice… no, to save _Edward_. It didn't matter to Roy what the parameters of their relationship were. What mattered was that he needed to get to Ed, and if that meant disregarding all the rules and destroying everything in his path, so be it. Soubi had never, ever thought of doing something like that. It would never even have occurred to him. Until now. Now he knew what he had to do. _I will protect Ritsuka at all costs. And if that means disregarding all the rules and destroying everything in my path, so be it._

He stood up, pulling Ritsuka with him. "Ritsuka. Get behind me. I will protect you."

Ritsuka stood, but he did not step back. He took Soubi's hand and stood side by side with him. "Soubi. Stand with me. I will protect us."

Soubi didn't have time to be amazed. Ed came clanking over just then, dragging a haggard-looking but apparently still sane Roy Mustang.

"Ritsuka! Listen to me. That creep is not your brother. He's a monster that was created when your father tried to bring him back from the dead. Please trust me. What Ritsu said was true. I know, I've… done it before." Ed paused, looking at his feet. "Don't be fooled! He'll kill you – he'll kill all of us if he gets the chance."

Soubi stared. _When his father tried to bring him back…?_ What was Edward talking about?

Ritsuka shook himself all over, like he was trying to dislodge memories that wouldn't leave him. "I understand. What do we need to do?"

Suddenly, the man in black rose up and launched himself at Ritsuka and Soubi, a guttural cry escaping his charred lips. "You need to die!"

Roy raised his gloved hand, but Edward reached out and stopped him. "No! Let me. I don't want you freaking out again, and Ritsuka –"

He broke off. The false Seimei had been repulsed once again by Ritsuka's new-found power. He backed off, snarling. This time Ritsuka had been holding tight to Soubi's hand, and Soubi swore he had caught an image of a woman dressed in white who resembled Ritsuka's mother.

"Fullmetal, how the hell else are we going to stop a homunculus? Take these two and get the hell out of here. I'll keep killing him till he stays dead."

"I wont let you do that! Why aren't you listening to me?" Edward looked confused for a moment. Then it hit him. He looked at his mutilated arm, then at Roy's matching one. "What the hell did you…?"

"Can we argue about this later, please? We're in the middle of combat, here."

"Goddamnit, Roy, I'm not leaving. I have to stay to protect Al."

"What? Alphonse is really here? Ritsu wasn't lying?"

"No goddamnit! The fuck do you think I did all this crazy shit for?"

"I don't know, Edward, generally, with you, it's par for the course."

"I'm gonna kill you when this is all over."

"Not if I kill you first."

The man in black made a dash for the door. Edward was on him in a flash, his right arm transfigured into a blade. He dug the weapon deep into his back, but the false Seimei only laughed, throwing Ed off as if he were a fly. Soubi was prepared; he hit him with shards of ice, sending him plummeting to the ground.

"Listen to me!" Ed had dropped into a roll and come back into a standing position, lightning-quick. "Regular spells and attacks wont work against homunculi! You have to have a part of them, a piece of their body or hair or something. Do you two have anything like that? Anything of Seimei's?"

_Do I have anything of Seimei's?_ That was an interesting question. _I_ am _something of Seimei's. Or… I was. _Soubi understood what Edward was talking about, however. It made sense to him in terms of spellcasting. If you had something of that person, you could control them. It was an archaic concept, one of the oldest ways to work magic. Soubi did not have anything from Seimei, however, except…

His hands automatically moved to his neck, and the bandages there. _Except this._ Soubi thought about it. His name. Seimei had given him his name, _Beloved._ Carved it into his neck. A mark of ownership. Complete and total possession. In order to complete the spell, Seimei had to have put a little piece of himself into Soubi. What if Soubi could… give it back to him? _If that means disregarding all the rules and destroying everything in my path…_

He started removing the bandages. Ritsuka watched him, eyes wide. "Ritsuka. You may not want to… watch this."

Soubi was afraid that Ritsuka would protest, and then he would be in a position to have to directly disobey him, which he wasn't sure he could actually do. But Ritsuka simply took a deep breath, once again evincing that silent strength, and nodded.

Soubi turned to Roy, his hand on his neck. A silent exchange passed between them. Roy understood.

"Edward. Take Ritsuka into the room with Al. Soubi and I will handle this."

"But – "

"Edward Elric, is your place or is it not by your brother's side? Maybe you should think a little harder about where not listening to me has gotten you so far today. I SAID MOVE IT, FULLMETAL!"

"Fine, but if you start screaming again, I'm coming back out, you bastard!"

Ed took Ritsuka by the hand and lead him back into the small room. The man in black started stirring once more.

"Are you sure?" Roy asked.

Soubi nodded once. Roy snapped his fingers. Flames engulfed Soubi's neck.

He fell to his knees. The pain was unbelievable, but he was used to pain. Through a nauseating haze, he could see the monster that Aoyagi Kenji had created from Seimei's corpse writhing on the ground in agony. He tried to reach Soubi, but Roy snapped his fingers again and he was blasted back away from him.

Suddenly, something inside of Soubi was clawing to get out. He started retching violently. Images were flashing through his mind: every cruelty visited upon him by Seimei, every heinous act, every abuse in the guise of punishment. Something was rising up in him, something he'd never dared, something he'd never felt he had the right or the privilege to say, but now, now he had to let it out or let it kill him…

"NO!"

He shouted it at the top of his lungs, over and over. _No. I wont do what you say. No. I'm not a piece of garbage you can throw away. No. You aren't allowed to abuse me at your whim. NO!_

As he shouted _NO!_ one final time, out of his lips came a wisp of smoke that floated gently upward, like a butterfly spreading its wings. _Yes. I am free of you._

When the curling smoke reached its destination, Roy was ready. With a determined look on his face, he snapped his lethal fingers one more time. Red flames met grey smoke, and the monster let out a final wail before disintegrating into ash. Seimei was dead. For the second time.


	28. Chapter 28

Ritsuka was fighting against Edward for all that he was worth, but it was doing him absolutely no good. In addition to his unyielding metal limbs, Ed seemed to have developed a new inner strength since his contact with the Red King, and he was holding Ritsuka back almost effortlessly, like a father holding a flailing child.

Desperation was starting to overtake Ritsuka; he had to get to Soubi _now._ He had never heard his Fighter scream like that; he couldn't imagine what was being done to him, but he could sense horrible, agonizing pain. _Soubi! Soubi, I'm coming for you, I'm coming…!_

Suddenly, Ritsuka's insides froze. It was as if time literally stood still. _Soubi had stopped breathing._ Ritsuka's entire world began to bleed together like tinted paints smeared across a torn canvas. He saw himself standing in front of his brother's grave, lighting incense at Seimei's funeral, the will to live being slowly sapped out of him till he was nothing but a dry cicada shell, hollow and empty. Seimei's burning, reeking corpse stared at him with vacant eyes, mocking him, pulling him further into the ever-ravenous darkness. His father's funeral surfaced for the first time from his well of missing memories; Ritsuka was standing stock-still like a zombie, watching his mother swallow colored pills like candy. None of it seemed real. Then he was standing in front of a cream-colored coffin draped in purple silk. Laying inside was his beautiful Fighter, his face stark-white, his soft blonde hair framing his face like an Angel, his sparkling sapphire eyes closed forever…

_No. No! I refuse. I won't be swept along by yet another tragedy. I refuse to be a victim of fate…!_

"NO!" Ritsuka echoed Soubi's cry as he snapped his eyes open and looked straight into Edward's startled face.

"Edward. I'm going." Behind Ritsuka's voice was _Her_ voice, and Ed could only nod and open his arms.

"Let me come with you." He stood, offering Ritsuka his hand. Ritsuka took it and they both stepped through the door.

There were ashes flying all around them, making it hard to see. Ritsuka saw Ed out of the corner of his eye dashing to catch Roy as he collapsed, but he didn't have time to worry about them.

Soubi lay on the floor covered in grey ash, his face nearly as white as in Ritsuka's vision, his neck burned black. It was all Ritsuka could do to not start screaming and never stop. He rushed over, gathered his Fighter in his arms and clung to him, weeping bitterly. Tears fell in torrents, like never-ceasing rainstorms. He cried and cried and cried, for everything that had happened to him in his short, sad life, for all the inequity in the world. Out of his mouth came a great wail, a primal howl from the very deepest part of him. It was if his entire soul was crying out for release, for an end to suffering, praying that someone might hear, that someone might know the anguish of one desperate little boy, and the wretchedness of all helpless children everywhere.

Someone did hear. His lament went not unheard; his tears were not in vain. The Keeper of All Tears, the One Who Weeps for the Sorrows of the World, she also wept for Aoyagi Ritsuka. The White Queen's tears fell upon him like cool raindrops, and he paused, his little body still shuddering with sobs. She reached her arms wide to embrace both Fighter and Sacrifice, and as she gathered them close to her bosom, Ritsuka heard her speak gently in his ear.

_Bring him down to the Sea. You must breathe for him. He needs your voice._

Ritsuka found himself walking on the beach, carrying Soubi in his arms, his long blonde hair blowing gently in the breeze. He wasn't sure how he was able to carry his Fighter like this, but he kept going, down to the water, into the embracing arms of the Sea, as the Lady had instructed. _The Sea, to which all things, in the end, return._

As he stepped into the cool waters, Ritsuka's strength and will began to return. He breathed in the salty sea air, taking great gulps of it into his lungs. Moving deeper into the waves, he saw that Soubi was also benefiting from the healing waters; the wounds on his neck were closing, and, to Ritsuka's great amazement, the _Beloved_ scar had disappeared. _How…?_

Ritsuka had no time to wonder about this, however, because Soubi began to twitch and flail in his arms. He was coughing, choking. Ritsuka started to panic, but then he remembered the White Queen's words: _You must breathe for him. He needs your voice._

Ritsuka cupped Soubi's head in his hands, then lowered his lips gently on top of his Fighter's, sending him the silent command: _Breathe._ Once again inhaling the briny air deeply, Ritsuka breathed directly into Soubi's mouth, sending the calming, healing energy of the White Queen along with life-giving air. He did this several times until Soubi gasped, throwing his head back, his eyes fluttering open, then closing again. Something was still wrong. His breathing was shallow at best.

_He needs your voice._

"Soubi! Soubi, can you hear me? Come back to me! I need you! Please, please come back! Where have you gone?"

The waves suddenly started to grow larger, sweeping Ritsuka and Soubi along. The scene changed. Ritsuka found himself walking along the beach once again, but this time his Fighter was nowhere to be seen. In his place was a little boy of perhaps 7 or 8 years old, his kitten ears still poking out of his blonde hair. He was sitting by the side of the water, crying.

Ritsuka approached him slowly and sat down next to him. The boy just kept on crying, paying him no mind. "Are you all right?"

The blonde boy looked up, dusky-blue orbs drawing him in, and Ritsuka knew: this was his Fighter, only for some reason he was seeing him as a young boy. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Little Soubi only shook his head and continued to cry. Ritsuka tried again. "What is it you need?"

Small hands moved to his throat and he coughed, once. _He needs your voice. _

"Y-you don't have a voice?"

Little Soubi nodded miserably, tears falling freely from his huge shining eyes. He put his head in his hands, sobbing silently, and when he bent down, Ritsuka noticed that his back was lacerated with ugly wounds, as if he'd been beaten with a whip.

Ritsuka touched his shoulder ever so lightly, and Little Soubi recoiled. "Who… who did this to you?" But Ritsuka knew. _Ritsu. That bastard…!_

"Soubi…" The boy looked up, startled to hear his name. "That man… that bad man who did this to you, he's gone. He's gone and… he can't hurt you anymore."

Little Soubi blinked up at Ritsuka, then proceeded to cry even harder. _What did I do wrong? _Then Ritsuka realized: he'd just informed Soubi that he was Master-less. He may as well have kicked him.

"No – no, it's okay. I-I'll be your Master now."

Sniffing, Little Soubi looked up again. "Yes, I'll be your Master; I'll take care of you, and… and _I'll lend you my voice."_

Ritsuka stood up, and taking Little Soubi's hand in his, he cried out over the Sea. His voice rang out over the waves, a powerful lament. Little Soubi watched him in wonder.

"Now you try," Ritsuka said, putting one arm around Soubi and one hand on his heart. "Go ahead. I'm right here with you."

Little Soubi stood there trembling. He coughed, coughed again, then retched and started to falter, but Ritsuka caught him and held him up. Deciding to try a different tack, Ritsuka moved his hand lower, to Soubi's abdomen, and began to roar, stomping his feet as he did so. He encouraged Soubi to imitate his actions.

Scrunching up his face, Little Soubi made his hands into fists, splashed his feet up and down in the water, coughed and coughed and coughed, and then finally let out a raw, guttural sound, like a wounded animal, horrible, yet at the same time purgative and purifying. Ritsuka joined him and the two of them roared at the top of their lungs, splashing in the waves, vibrant, alive, and no longer voiceless.

Ritsuka put his arms around Little Soubi and kissed the top of his head, nuzzling his kitty ears, and then there were no ears. His big grown-up Fighter was lying in his arms, _alive_ and _breathing_ and crying and smiling and suddenly everything, everything was all right with the world.


	29. Chapter 29

Edward Elric couldn't stop crying. He was clinging to Roy's unconscious form, his shaking hands grasping uselessly at the front of his uniform jacket, rubbing the silver rank insignia on Roy's collar between his thumb and forefinger as if it were a magic charm that would somehow awaken him.

"Damn it, you bastard, wake up! What the hell am I supposed to do? TELL ME WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO DO!"

He could hear Ritsuka wailing and sobbing behind him, and he knew he should go over there to make sure he was okay, make sure the danger had passed; he could detect no sign of the man in black, but that didn't mean anything. Roy's admonitions echoed in his head - _combat triage, Fullmetal!_ – but he couldn't move. All he could do was cling to his erstwhile Fighter, weeping.

The effects of all of his actions were suddenly piling on top of his head like bombshells during wartime, and it was all Ed could do to keep from losing it altogether. He'd killed someone. Pushed him right through the _Gate_. Had it really been he, himself, Edward Elric, who had done such a thing? It had all happened so fast; all he knew was that he had to save Al, he _had_ to, it wasn't even a question, anything, everything, for Alphonse. Something had taken over, something he was only beginning to be aware of inside himself, and it had frightened him mightily.

He had accomplished his task: Al was here, in this world, embodied. Yet, with Roy lying in his arms half dead, covered with frightful burns that he, Edward, had forced him to endure, it seemed a Pyrrhic victory at best. _Maybe you should think a little harder about where not listening to me has gotten you so far today._ Maybe he should have thought a little harder about this whole thing. _Damn it, Roy, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, please be okay, please, please be okay…_

Something was happening; the air around Edward was suddenly humming with alchemy. He sat up, pulling Roy closer to him somewhat protectively, wincing as he remembered his own wounded left arm and the still-blistering sores around his automail port. Looking around, he tried to sense what was happening, where this energy was coming from and whether or not it was some sort of attack, but he could perceive nothing through the ashes.

A strange mist was gathering, and the acrid, burning smell hanging in the air was becoming stronger as the haziness increased. Ed felt his reality beginning to shift and a quiver of concern for Al rippled through him; he didn't like the idea of leaving his brother lying unconscious on the floor in the other room, unprotected, while he flitted off into some alchemical non-reality, but it didn't seem as though he were being offered a choice.

Instead, he found himself trudging up a jagged hill, carrying Roy in his arms, the cacophonous sounds of a fierce battle swirling around them. Glancing down, he noticed that Roy was not the only one in uniform. Ed found himself also clothed in a blue jacket with silver buttons, though there was something about the outfit that was different from the modern Amestrian style uniform, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it…

Ed didn't have time to worry about his clothes, however: an explosion knocked them both sideways, and Ed threw himself to the ground on top of Roy, trying in vain to protect his Colonel's larger body with his smaller one. Half a second later, with a clap of Ed's hands, the rock underneath them rose up in a great wave at his command and half-curled over them like the hand of some unruly earth giant.

Something was compelling him to make it to the top of the hill, so he shifted the rocks forward, keeping them both shielded while moving ahead at the same time. It was a bit of a tricky operation, but this particular sort of alchemy had always come instinctively to him, almost as if the natural world were simply an extension of himself, so that bending it to his will seemed as effortless as waving his hand or taking a step. When he reached the summit, he lowered the rocky barrier enough so that he could get a view of what was happening below.

Clouds of smoke were obscuring his view, and he was just thinking about how he might try some kind of alchemy to clear the sky (something he had admittedly never attempted before), when his hopes manifested: the smog began to clear. As soon as it did so, however, Ed wished it hadn't, because the scene that spread out before him was a grim sight indeed.

All across the valley, strewn helter-skelter over the blood-soaked sand, were thousands upon thousands of slain corpses, their limbs twisted by pitiless death into most unnatural positions. Whatever battle had just taken place here must have been truly epic in scale, because the sheer number of dead was absolutely staggering. The carcasses seemed to be gathered in heaps around the hillsides. Edward just stood there, his limbs frozen in place, his eyes wide with horror. He nearly dropped Roy in his shock, and he was about to set him down on the ground, when Roy woke suddenly and clung to Ed in absolute terror.

"NO! Don't leave me to them! Please don't leave me to them, I'm begging you!"

"Roy! Roy, it's all right, I've got you, I'm not letting go."

Glancing quickly around, Ed tried to understand the reason for his Colonel's sudden fear, but he could detect nothing. The sounds of battle had retreated and all he could see for miles were dead bodies and golden sand. Roy continued to cling to him like a frightened child, his whole body shaking. Ed was struggling not to panic: he'd never seen Roy like this, and he had no idea what to do or how to help him. All he could do was hold tightly to him and hope that he would come back to himself.

Then he heard it. It was imperceptible at first, but there was definitely a faint sound coming from all around them, a very odd noise, almost a shuffling, or a scraping… Ed froze. Dread flooded his veins like bitter poison. _The corpses were moving._ He swallowed furiously, fighting the bile rising in his throat. _No. This is not happening. This is not real. It's just an illusion…!_

Ed began backing up, slowly, but he realized there was absolutely nowhere for him to go. They were on a hill surrounded on all sides by miles and miles of the living dead, who were becoming more and more animate by the minute. He staggered, falling to his knees, causing Roy's longer limbs to touch the ground. Roy jumped back as if scalded, screaming like a man possessed. At his touch, the sand seemed to seethe with alchemical energy, and the dead became more restless still.

If he could have managed it, Edward would have put his hands over his ears; Roy's screaming was that terrible. Instead, clutching his Colonel even closer, he clapped his hands once more and raised the rocks around them into a makeshift stone cage. _Right. If I'm gonna fight a thousand fucking zombies, at least let me take 'em a couple at a time…!_

Ed was desperately trying to convince himself that the sight and sound of thousands of dead men getting to their feet and moving towards him was an illusion - it was alchemy, it was not real, it was a hallucination – but it wasn't working. Fear for his life suddenly overrode every other instinct. He shook Roy furiously, which did absolutely no good, as he'd once again slipped into unconsciousness. "Damn it, you bastard, will you fucking snap out of it? I could really use some of your flame action right about now!"

As soon as those words left his lips, Ed realized two things. One was concerning the approaching corpses, something he'd missed from afar: every single one of them was burned. Some of their limbs has been severely scorched, leaving only hideous charred stubs; others had been incinerated almost completely and were merely living skeletons. This fact lead him to his second conclusion: this wasn't his illusion at all. It was Roy's. He had gotten inside his Colonel's head, somehow. Ed shuddered. _Tell me he has not been carrying this burden, this horror, every day, every hour of his life, ever since Ishbal?_

Something awoke in Edward then, something he had tasted briefly when he had risen up in Ritsuka's defense and had driven his spear through Ritsu's heart. It burned in him like fire, searing his insides, bringing his blood to a roiling boil, but it would be simplistic to call it anger, or even rage. This was something else. This was _someone_ else, and when he leaned back, he felt a reassuring presence behind him, a firm hand on his shoulder.

_The Red King. King of All Warriors. Lord of the Battlefield._

Ed could feel the Red King's strength flowing into him like water in the desert, and he drank it in desperately. His heart was pounding so quickly that he thought it might burst. The Red King placed a metal-gauntleted hand over Edward's chest, and he felt the courage of a thousand wild horses rush into him. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. His whole body was pulsing with energy, power, and vitality.

He turned to face the Red King, whose features he could not quite make out due to the blinding light that seemed to come from inside of him, glinting off his golden armor. Edward knelt in front of the King, still holding Roy's unconscious form in his arms. Summoning his best look of Elric-determination, he looked up into his shining visage, silently pleading for the strength to help his Colonel.

The Red King seemed to smile, though Ed still wasn't able to see his face. _You are very brave, little one. Do you know why you are here?_

A bit of the old Ed came rushing back in reaction to the _little one_ epithet, but he bit his tongue and let it go. "No, Sir." His voice sounded strangely out of place; the Red King had not spoken in words, but Ed had understood him nevertheless.

The King threw back his head and laughed. It was a kindhearted laughter. _I see. Edward Elric, you have a very strong Warrior Spirit, as does your Fighter._

Ed blushed to his roots. "N-no, well, actually, he's not my Fighter anymore, I kinda… screwed that up. I mean… er… Sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't really mean to, I mean…"

The Red King's merry laughter rang out once more. _As I am not of this world, Edward Elric, I do not abide by its rules. Roy Mustang is your Fighter, your Warrior, your Protector, not only in this world, but everywhere you go. Do you not know this?_

Ed was astounded. Roy was his Fighter… everywhere? He thought about it for a moment. It was true that Roy had shown up in his life when he was 11 years old, in fact, just when he needed him most. But did that mean...?

_Your Fighter needs you. Are you willing to go to battle for him?_

"Y-yes. Yes, sir. I-I just… I'm not sure what to do."

_What does your heart tell you?_

"My… heart?" Ed thought about it. What was he feeling, right now? Just now, when he saw all those burnt zombies and thought of Roy and Ishbal and… That burning conviction returned to him, the feeling of righteous anger and rage and passion and desire to make things _right…_

"I – I feel like… I want to tear them all apart, all those zombies, all those demons; it wasn't Roy's fault, what happened at Ishbal, it's not fair! He doesn't deserve this. And I… I want to do something to make up for my… for the things I've done. For all my rash decisions and… my selfishness. I don't feel like I really ever could, but at least… I'm willing to try."

_Your Fighter's Warrior Spirit burns very brightly, and as such, he is able to suffer very deep wounds that would break another Spirit. In this, you and he are similar._

Ed reddened once again. He didn't think he was at all like Roy: after all, everything he'd ever done was his own damned fault. What had Roy ever done but obey orders? And yet, if Ed had been ordered to kill the Rockbells, would he have done it? He would like to think he'd have refused, but when it came down to it, he didn't know. He recalled very vividly being tormented by the choice of whether to kill a room full of prisoners in order to create the Philosopher's Stone or see his brother erased from the world… He realized that he really didn't know what his choice would have been at all, had he been in Roy's situation.

"I… don't know if I can do this. All this is happening so fast and… I don't feel like I'm… worthy."

_Few warriors are so haughty as to be assured of victory before battle. Those who are generally do not return victorious._

"I-I'm not really a warrior. I'm just a kid who made a… a mistake, a mistake that I'm going to have to spend the rest of my life making up for. The fact that I've had to learn to fight to do that is just secondary."

_Are you sure about that? Look around you._

Edward examined his surroundings, which had shifted again since the Red King had touched him. He found himself in what seemed to be a museum or a palace, walking down a long shimmering hallway with large decorated paintings on either side. Upon further examination, the colossal paintings seemed to come to life before him. Ed watched as mighty kings led great armies into battle, their banners fluttering in the wind, their heads held high. Gilded warriors, their armor shining brightly in the sun, swung terrible swords and rode magnificent horses. Young boys, old men, and seasoned soldiers alike surged into battle, all thrumming with life, passion, and tremendous force of will. Female warriors with crescent shields and flashing grey eyes stormed into view, riding swift chariots and firing arrows at incredible speed.

On the other side of the hallway were paintings terrible to behold. Vast armies laid waste to countrysides, ravaged homes and set fire to villages in search of spoils of war. Men lay sprawled and dying, green in hue, drowning in rivers which ran red with blood. Corpses similar to the ones Edward had just seen littered the ground in even greater numbers, their faces disfigured and bloated. Everywhere he turned there was death, destruction, and violence: a mangled body being ruthlessly dragged behind a chariot; a youth struck down having dropped his weapons and run away in terror; innocent civilians screaming in vain as they were cut down mercilessly.

"What… is all this?"

_This is the Hall of Warriors, my son. Look well on it. Your journey will one day be reflected on these walls._

"What? What do you mean?"

The Red King gestured to a panel further down the hall, and Edward stared. There on the wide canvas was the Amestrian army, dressed in the older style uniforms like the one Ed had just been wearing, fighting horrible battles with the Ishbalans. Or rather, Amestrians were slaughtering Ishbalans wholesale. The efficiency with which this was done shocked Edward, and each battle scene was more terrible than the next, but nothing, nothing could prepare him for the scene depicted in the last panel.

Groups of Ishbalans were being led toward a hill on top of which a single soldier stood, and as they approached, they died in droves. From the top of that frightful hill came fiery death, which rained upon them again and again, pitilessly. Dead bodies piled higher and higher, so high, in fact, that the lone soldier was soon trapped at the top and had to force his way down by means of incinerating the corpses in his path. After he made his way down, he was lead up another jagged hill and forced to repeated the same gruesome procedure. Again. And again. And again.

Edward pressed his face closer to the painting, and he found that he could view the scene close up in this way. Yet as soon as he did so, he jumped back almost as quickly, white-faced, fighting the urge to be sick.

Roy in the painting looked so different from his Colonel, he was almost unrecognizable. His face was twisted into a grimace that Edward had never seen on him, ever, not even in his worst moods, not even after Hughes had died. To say that he looked haggard would be an extreme understatement: he looked barely alive, his pale skin hanging over his bones like a starvation victim. But his hollow eyes were the most unnerving thing of all. They were very simply the eyes of a madman. It was as if he were long past terrified, long past shellshocked, long past the end of his rope, and into a whole new territory that Edward had neither the years nor the life experience to even begin to understand. Next to his mother's mangled corpse, it was the most frightening thing Edward had ever seen.

"Roy… ROY!"

He stumbled backward, and the Red King caught him and gently guided him back to where his Fighter lay. Edward threw himself on top of him and wailed. He pulled Roy into his arms, crying and screaming at the same time, railing against life, death, fate, cruelty, all of it. He stared up at the Red King with the most pitiful look on his face.

"Can't… can't you DO something? Can't you help him?"

_I am helping him. I am sending you. Do not be afraid. Trust in your Warrior Spirit._

At that, the Red King began to fade, and the jagged hill full of corpses came back into view. Ed was back in his stone cage, with Roy in his arms, and the walking dead had nearly reached the top of the hill.

Panic started to set in; Edward took a deep breath. _Trust in your Warrior Spirit._ He looked down at Roy's unconscious form in his arms. _Well, here goes nothing!_

Ed clapped his hands and created a stone table of sorts on which to lay his Fighter. Afraid that Roy might start screaming again if he touched the ground directly, he took off his coat and transmuted it into a thick mat, then gently placed Roy down on top of it. Roy did not stir, and the walking corpses did not seem to change their pace.

The courage that the Red King had awoken in Edward was still flowing strong as he glared at the approaching zombies. Concentrating hard, he sent his alchemy down into the rocky ground and tried to sense the presence of iron ore there. He found that he could pull it up out of the earth fairly easily, and when he was finished, he had a shining spear in both hands. Both spears sparked with crimson light, indicating the power of the Red King within. A ridiculously huge grin spread across Ed's face.

"All right, you zombie bastards, listen up! The time allotted for you to be pissed off about this is over. You're no longer welcome here, you got it? Stay the hell away from Roy, or eat my steel!"

At that, he rose up on a huge wave of sand and rock and launched his two spears forward. Two zombies fell instantly and disappeared; the others began tripping over each other to move back. Feeling a tingling in his hands, Ed brought them together, and to his surprise, his two magic spears reappeared in his hands.

"YES! Bring it, you fuckers! I'll take you all down! I'll take all of you at once! I could do this all goddamned day!"

_Fullmetal._

"I'll pulverize you, I'll annihilate you...!"

_Fullmetal!_

"Huh?"

"Quit pulling my hair. It hurts."

Edward looked down. Roy was lying in his lap, alive, conscious, smirking, and miraculously zombie-free. Ed had somehow gotten his metal fist entwined in his Colonel's dark hair. They were back in the hallway with Soubi and Ritsuka, who was coming over to see Ed.

"Edward, I think I can help your Fighter; I seem to have developed some kind of healing power when we did that ritual. Are you all right? You look like you just came back from somewhere far away, too."

Ed blinked. "Yeah, you could say that…" He looked at Roy. "Are you…?"

"Fullmetal, what about getting your goddamned metal limbs out of my hair don't you understand?"

Edward smiled, and relief flooded his veins like the cool, clear waters of the sea.


	30. Chapter 30

Roy Mustang woke up in a dull haze of pain with no idea where he was or how he'd gotten there. His brain automatically snapped into surveillance mode even before his eyes opened. _No sound of gunfire. No obvious sign of enemies in immediate vicinity. Limbs fully functional…_ He moved his right arm just barely, wincing. _Okay,_ mostly _functional_. _No smell of oil, smoke, or burning flesh, no sound except… crickets. There are no crickets in Ishbal. Right._

His vision swam, but he managed to make out a low ceiling of some sort, with long wooden beams above his head. He was lying on his back on a small bed with a rough wool blanket on top of him. There was no sign of another human being present. Wait, scratch that, he could detect a slight movement, just past the bed…

His head snapped left, though he regretted the swift motion almost immediately. _Son of a bitch, I must have been seriously, seriously dru-_

"Hair of the dog?"

A hand with slim fingers sprung into view, holding up a nearly empty bottle of scotch.

_Oh, shit._ Memories flooded his brain like unwelcome guests at an already overcrowded party. _The man in black, burning, himself, burning, Edward, burning, Edward…!_

"Ed…?"

"He's fine. Left you this."

Soubi's other hand came up, bearing a note. Roy attempted to roll over to get it, then thought better of it and simply stretched out his left hand. Holding the paper in front of his face, he could barely make out Ed's customary scrawl. _How the boy manages to draw arrays so precisely, considering his reports are still one step above chicken scratch, is really beyond me._

It read something like this:

_Dear Colonel Bastard,_

Ritsuka and I went into town to get food and supplies. Before you get mad at me, I already weighed the options and decided it was the best course of action, since both you and Soubi are wounded, Al's still unconscious, I'm unfamiliar with the territory, and Ritsuka shouldn't be traveling alone. You can critique my decision when we get back. Better yet, you can shove it.

Don't get up. Stay in bed. That's an order. I don't care if you're no longer following my orders. Fucking stay in bed anyway.

Don't even say you have to scan the area for potential enemies, because I already did that. I took a walk around the property before I left (1300 hours) and there were no enemies in a half mile radius of the house. Yes, I did remember to look up. No, this is not an opportunity for a short joke.

Don't get up. I mean it. I'm gonna ask Pretty Boy when I get back if you did. It better be just to take a piss or something.

ED

P.S. If Al wakes up, talk to him. Don't let him freak out. He's sleeping on the futon next to Soubi's.

P.P.S. I alchemy-locked the front and back doors, as well as the door to the cellar. The array is on the back of this note in case you need to get out in a hurry.

Roy turned the note over; indeed there was a perfectly-executed array on the back, along with the words _Try not to burn this, dumbass_ scrawled underneath. Smirking in spite of himself, he extended his left hand in Soubi's direction once more.

"I'll take that scotch now, please."

This time Soubi's well-groomed head popped up next to the bed, along with the bottle. _How the hell does he manage to keep his hair so damned perfect looking, despite the fact that he's been lying in bed wounded all day?_ Roy hated to think about what his own hair probably looked like. Maes used to tell him he resembled a rooster that had been drowned and raised again on bad days. This was probably one of those times. Sighing, he took the bottle from Soubi, giving his physical appearance up as a lost cause. Prince Charming, today, he was not.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I've just been used for target practice?"

Roy sat up carefully and took a long, slow swig of the amber liquid. It burned deliciously going down. He could do with being drunk for the next three days, truth be told. Too bad Ed had already gone out, he could have given him a list… Oh, wait, Ed wasn't old enough to buy alcohol, was he? Did the same rules apply here? Old enough to fight, kill and die, but not old enough to drink. Something about that just wasn't right. He sighed and lifted the bottle to his lips once more.

"Mind if I lay next to you?"

Roy made a noncommittal noise and moved over slightly, making room. Soubi climbed gently onto the bed and lay sideways next to Roy, stretched out like a cat, his head propped up on his elbow, his long legs hanging off the end. Roy noticed that while his neck was bandaged more than usual, it wasn't nearly as damaged as it should have been from the flames that Roy himself had inflicted upon him. How on earth had he managed to heal so fast? He reached out to touch the bandages gently.

"How…?"

Soubi snatched the bottle and took a small sip. "Ritsuka. He… did something, I'm not sure what. He helped you, too, though you probably don't remember."

Trying to recall last night's events made Roy's head ache even more, if that was possible. He could tell this was going to be one of those truly wretched hangover headaches, the kind that made your head feel like a great brass bell, resonating loudly and painfully with every slight noise around you. _All the more reason to keep drinking._

"There is also a Fighter technique of healing through self-hypnosis. You might have read about it in one of those books."

Roy put his left hand over his eyes. "I don't… think I'll be doing much of that sort of thing, anymore." He looked down at his mangled right hand and sighed.

"You may have temporarily severed your connection with Edward, but that doesn't mean you are no longer a Fighter. You can't _not_ be one. It's what you _are._"

"Just give me the goddamned alcohol, will you, and stop spouting bullshit?"

Soubi smiled and passed the bottle to Roy once again. "I can try and show you, if you like."

Roy was still trying to work out whether that was a come-on or whether he was actually serious about this crap about him still being a Fighter, when suddenly, Soubi was on top of him. _Okay, it was definitely a come-on…_

Soubi pressed his forehead to Roy's, closed his eyes and breathed deeply, putting his fingers to Roy's temples and massaging them gently. Roy could smell alcohol and the tang of cigarette smoke and he licked his lips in anticipation, but the kiss never came. Instead, he felt Soubi reaching down to touch his right arm, underneath the bandages, where the flesh was still blistered and sore…

"Ouch! Why did you…!"

"Shhh. Concentrate with me. Remember your arm as it was: whole, unhurt, perfect. Focus on that. Forget about everything else."

"How can I forget when you're – OW!"

Soubi pressed Roy's left shoulder firmly into the pillows with his opposite hand. "Relax," he intoned, directly into his ear, his voice dripping with spellwork. Roy's gut instinct was to fight it, but it was useless, anyway, and on the off chance that it worked, well, then, good. His body responded and he went limp in Soubi's arms.

_Good. Now. Remember._

Remember.

He saw himself running by the seashore, laughing, carrying in his right hand, of all things, a kite-string. Roy didn't have very many happy childhood memories, much less any that he could readily recall, but there he was, looking up at his perfectly healthy 10 year old arm as it reached up into the sky, flying a kite. His left hand was pointing up into the blue expanse, as if he were trying to show someone, someone he loved… his _mother_. His beautiful, raven-haired, pale-skinned mother was walking slowly down the beach ahead of him, laughing, the wind blowing her long hair out of her joyful face…

_Mother…_

Strange, he'd almost forgotten what she looked like. How could he have forgotten such a thing…?

Roy opened his eyes, blinking, and found them wet. _Damn it._

"There, see, it's already starting to heal. Now sleep on it, and it will get better."

"What happened to that goddamned scotch?"

Soubi reached down and pulled up a second bottle of what looked very much like sake. "I found this in the house cabinet. Should last us a few more rounds, eh?"

"I could kiss you."

"No one's stopping you."

Roy had a fleeting thought that their respective Sacrifices would be very upset were they to come home and find their Fighters in this position, but as Soubi's moist, hot tongue slid into his mouth, he realized he didn't really care. After all, he was no longer under Edward's orders, now, was he? _Let him throw a fit. See how far it gets him. He does whatever the hell he damn well pleases all the time. It's time for a little_ touka koukan.


	31. Chapter 31

Edward watched as Ritsuka picked out various supplies from the mind-boggling array of brightly colored bottles on the shelves of the small store. He was really glad they had decided to go together, because Ed had no idea what any of this stuff was, never mind how it might help their Fighters. Food shopping had been even worse. Everything seemed to come in funny little wrapped packages: how were you supposed to tell what anything was? Ed was very skeptical of meat that didn't come from a butcher or fish that didn't come from a fisherman. I mean, where did the store get all this stuff? And how could you trust a place with all these buzzing, flashing lights and signs, anyhow? He'd seen some pretty weird stuff on his journeys with Al, but this was just _too_ weird.

Sighing, he continued to follow Ritsuka down the aisle, trying to think of the best way to bring up… what they had to talk about, without making things worse. Ed wasn't very skilled in this arena, but he was at least aware enough to know that _Hey, kid, remember that time you tried to kill yourself because of me?_ was perhaps not the best possible way to go about it.

Problem was, he had no clue how to go about it otherwise. Despite the intimate experiences the two boys had shared in the past few days, Ed still felt like Ritsuka was a complete mystery to him. They were just so fundamentally different on so many levels. When Ed was angry, he lashed out at the whole world, defying everyone, and if he pissed people off, too bad. Ritsuka seemed to turn inward, blaming himself for everything. Ed could understand that to a certain extent: he knew he blamed himself for what happened to Al, for instance. But that was honestly his fault. Ritsuka didn't seem to be at fault for anything that had happened to him, yet just to look at him, it was like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Ed didn't know how to even begin to alleviate that burden. Metal blades were useless when it came to this sort of thing. What else was he supposed to do?

Still, Ed wasn't content to just keep quiet about it. He had to say something, even if it was just a simple apology. Something had changed in Edward; he was done with leaving a legacy of guilt 50 feet wide everywhere he went. He had to talk to Ritsuka about this before it got worse, he just had to.

As they left the store and started on the path that would lead them back into the woods, Ed stopped and put down the bags he was carrying. "Ritsuka."

Ritsuka turned around. Ed avoided his gaze, his hand nervously scratching the back of his neck. "Um. I just wanted to… before we get back, I mean… I just wanted to say I'm… I'm sorry."

"For what?" Ritsuka asked.

Ed's face flushed. He was unconsciously drilling a fairly deep hole in the ground with his automail foot, twisting it back and forth. "You know, for… pushing you to the edge, like that. I mean, with… with what I said."

"What you said when?" Ritsuka was staring at him in wide-eyed confusion.

"What I said… I mean before you tried to… I mean, before you went into the hospital." Ed wasn't sure how much more he could stand of this. He went to start pacing back and forth and almost tripped right over himself since the tip of his left foot was now lodged in a six inch hole in the ground. _Damn it…_

"Ed… Do you mean that… you think I had that accident because of what you said?"

"That… accident?" Ed knew he was treading on thin ice, here. He didn't want to push Ritsuka too far, but he had to make sure he had all the facts straight. _What does he mean, accident?_

"Yes, that accident, when I fell, in the alleyway, after I ran away from you. I'm… I'm sorry. It didn't have to do with you, it really didn't. I… I have these… times… when I'm not… I'm not really here. I just sort of… freak out. I'm sorry to have made you feel like it was your fault. It really wasn't."

"I… Ritsuka, I thought…" Ed was trying hard to find a nice way to say this, but there just wasn't one. "Look, you don't have to talk about it with me if you don't want to, but… the doctors, they said you… they said it was a suicide attempt."

Ritsuka dropped the bags he was holding. Several colored bottles rolled out onto the ground. He immediately closed his eyes and got very, very quiet. Ed noticed that he seemed to be concentrating on his breathing.

"Ritsuka? Are you all right?" Ed was afraid to touch him, for fear of frightening him to death.

Ritsuka put his hands to his temples. His voice shook when he finally spoke. "The doctors… thought I tried to kill myself."

"So… you… you didn't?"

"NO! No, of course I - Edward!" His dark eyes suddenly opened, huge and round. "Ed, is that what the doctors told Soubi? Is that what they said?"

"Er… well, yeah, that was the general consensus – "

"Ed, we've got to get back to the house NOW!" He picked up his bags, shoved the fallen bottles back inside and started to run.

"Ritsuka, wait! RITSUKA!" Ed barreled after him, worried he had screwed everything up. Again.

They came flying into the house, and Ed had barely re-locked the door with alchemy when he heard Ritsuka scream. Hurrying into the living room, he braced himself for the worst. Had Ritsu come back? Or Seimei? What had frightened him so badly?

Ritsuka had dropped all of his groceries onto the floor once again, then turned and ran straight back out of the room. Ed looked to find out why, and his eyes were met with the absolute last scene he might have expected.

There on the bed in the corner was his very own Colonel Mustang, sucking face with Agatsuma Soubi, both of them clearly very drunk, very naked, in a position that Ed could only describe as _compromising._

And sitting up next to the bed on a futon with curious eyes and twitching brown kitty ears was _his brother Alphonse_, his _young and innocent little brother_, grinning from ear to ear.

"Brother!" Al's face lit up when he saw Ed, but he noticed his brother's wrathful expression and immediately looked down, cheeks reddening. Then he quickly glanced back up again, a smile of irrepressible joy spreading over his face. "You have kitty ears, too!"

Ed smacked his head with the palm of his automail hand. _I'm going to kill him. This time, I'm_ really _going to kill him._

But fuck Roy. Al was awake! He ran to his brother and pounced, pulling him into his arms for the first time since they were little, little boys.


End file.
